Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years
by HopeTheCrazyCat
Summary: High school AU in which Rick and Morty are not related, but classmates in the same grade. Rick is the super popular kid in school. Morty is the kid that no one wants anything to do with. So how did they end up becoming friends? And is it actually a good or a bad thing that they are? However, the most important question is, could they maybe be more? Warnings are inside.
1. Chapter 1: A Bad Influence?

AN: Long title is not only long, but also unoriginal…  
So, I know that I actually have a lot of other stuff that I should be working on right now, but my muse was like "I wanna do this now!"… Bad muse! Bad! -_-

Warnings: Rick/Morty, slowburn; none major warnings for this chapter though

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 1: A Bad Influence?**

"Beth, I'm telling you that he is a bad influence on our son." Jerry started one of their arguments again.

His wife only sighed. "Morty's grades were already bad before he started to spend time with Rick, Jerry. The only influence that I can see is that Morty finally has a friend. You should be happy for him."

The brunet still looked unconvinced even if Beth did have a point.

"Maybe you're right." He finally resigned with a sigh.

The house telephone started to ring and Beth went to answer it.

"Of course, I'm right. I'm an intelligent woman. You should know that by now."

Jerry actually scoffed at that statement while his wife was too busy to answer the phone to notice it.

 _"Hello Mrs. Smith. Principal Vagina here. The name is real."_ It chimed from the other end of the line. _"I need to talk to you about Morty. Do you have a moment to come by?"_

Beth looked a little shocked at what she heard, but agreed to come over to the school in half an hour nonetheless.

* * *

"I'm glad that you could come on such a short notice." The principal greeted both parents as they entered his office and took a seat. "Sorry that I actually used my private mobile phone to call you, but there is something wrong with the line of the school phone today."

"So what did you need to talk about? Is our son in trouble?" Beth didn't have the patience to deal with the old man beating around the bush.

Principal Vagina got the hint and decided to shoot straight to the topic. "Morty had been attending a total of 10 lessons within the entire last month and he also had been absent without excuse the months prior to that. On top of that, his grades had dropped so low that he's going to fail all of his classes."

"What? Why are you only informing us now about this?!" Beth was furious.

What kind of school was this? You would think if her son was absent without excuses from school this often that they would have called them sooner.

"I did. Didn't you get the messages that I left with Morty's grandfather?"

Now both Smiths looked confused.

"What grandfather?" Beth asked.

Even Jerry finally got a word in. "I'm sure that you don't have the number from my parents. And why would you even call them? They live in Michigan."

"No, I mean his other grandfather. He always answered when I called your home since I couldn't reach you over your mobile phones no matter when I tried." The principal explained.

"We don't have anyone living like that with us and there were also no missed calls on our phones. Or did you have any on yours, Jerry?"

The brunet shook his head, currently as confused as his wife.

"That is weird." Mr. Vagina said. "I could have sworn that I got the right number and this man did introduce himself as Morty's grandfather. Doctor Richard Smith."

"Richard? Isn't that the name of Morty's friend…?" Beth instantly realized.

"Hah! I knew it! He's ruining our son!" Jerry instantly jumped up at that. "Wait. Why am I celebrating?"

Jean Vagina cleared his throat before he continued. "Well, it is true that Morty's friend Rick is as equally absent without excuse."

"Then shouldn't you have called his parents as well?" Beth asked.

"Yeah. Where are they?" Jerry also asked and looked around.

"Well, I have informed his parents, but that's about it. Unlike Morty, he isn't in danger of failing. In fact, he is at the top of all of his classes."

"How is that even possible?!" Jerry called foul play.

"The kid is a genius." Beth and the principal replied simultaneously.

Everyone knew that already and Jerry should really know that, too, by now.  
There was a long silence in the office in which the adults looked at each other questioningly as if mentally debating what to do now.

Eventually Beth sighed. "We will talk with Morty about this and see to it that he won't skip classes anymore and pick up on his grades. Thank you for informing us."

* * *

It was already evening when Morty came home. He quickly rushed upstairs to discard his backpack that he had left to school with this morning and then dashed back down to join his family at the dinner table since they were about to eat.

"Morty, we need to talk after dinner." His mother declared while she put the food on the table.

"Um…okay." The boy mumbled, having a bad feeling and suddenly losing his appetite.

If his mom wanted to have a talk with him, it could only mean that he was in trouble. Something, which had happened decidedly more often since he had become friends with Rick…

The meal was spent mostly in silence, only the scraping if cutlery on porcelain and the noise of Summer occasionally tapping away on her smartphone could be heard.  
Morty pushed his peas from one side of the plate to the other, the awkward atmosphere threating to squish him in his chair.  
It was just weird that not even his chatty father tried to start one of his boring or embarrassing conversations like usual, though he did occasionally open his mouth as if there was something on his mind only to close it two seconds later again.

After dinner was finally over, Morty felt like his parents were about to declare his death sentence. They were taking this whole thing to the parlor and as he made his way towards the sofa, he felt like he was walking towards the executioner's block.  
Okay, maybe he was exaggerating, but this felt serious enough that it might as well be the case. Besides, he had stuff to do.

"Can we just get this over with quickly?" he asked, refusing to actually sit down. "Rick is waiting for me. Tonight is a meteor shower that we wanted to watch and it only occurs once every 300 hundred years."

"Well, that's too bad. Looks like your little friend Rick will have to watch it alone." Jerry began with his arms crossed over his chest.

Morty's eyes widened. "What?"

In disbelieve he looked at his mother, who looked like she was actually agreeing with his father for once.

"I'm sorry, Morty. I know that you like to spend time with your little friend and that you always do your little science things together, but we got a call from your school today and they told us that you've been skipping classes and are failing the grade. So, you're grounded now and won't be seeing Rick for a while." She stated sternly.

Oh, crap! As soon as his mom mentioned the call from school, Morty knew that he had messed up.

"For how long are we speaking here?" He asked reluctantly.

"You're grounded until you're not in danger of failing your classes anymore."

That was just great! Not only was he grounded for an undetermined amount of time now, but he also wouldn't be able to see Rick tonight. His best friend was going to be so pissed if he didn't show up.

"Um…can I still go and meet with Rick now and we start the confinement to my room tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

"No. It's starting now. We want you to go to your room and do your homework now, Morty." Beth wouldn't let herself be swayed.

Morty sighed in defeat and slunk up to his room. If it had been his father, he might have had a chance to plead his way out of this somehow, but if his mother was the one who said it, then there was no way to get out of it.  
When he entered his room, he didn't bother flipping on the lights and just fell on his bed.

Even if he had been told to do his homework, he was rather busy sulking now.  
Before he could even think how he was going to explain all of this to Rick, his phone suddenly started to beep and vibrate, signaling that he received a message.

 **You coming or what?** It read.

 _Can't._ Morty typed quickly back.

 **Why?**

 _I'm grounded._

 **Why that?**

 _School called today and my parents found out that I was skipping._

 **That can't be!**

 **Unless Vag called from something else than the school line.**

 **I only made the jammer and the call divert for that line.**

 **My bad.**

Morty sighed. That was no surprise. For being a genius that could come up with the craziest inventions, Rick actually messed up a lot…even when he would always claim that it almost never happens.

 **Just sneak out then.**

Morty blinked at the screen.  
Rick couldn't really mean that.

 _What?_

 **Sneak out so that we can meet up.**

 _How am I supposed to do that?_

 _You know that my bedroom is on the second floor!_

 _I can't just jump out the window like that!_

 **Get a little creative, Morty.**

The boy curled his lips and then looked around the room. The whole idea sounded insane to begin with. If his parents found out that he just snuck out of the house, they would totally flip out.  
Aside from that, he didn't think that he had anything inside his room that would help him with the task. Or had he?

 _What should I do? Tie my bedsheets and clothes together and climb out of the window?_

At least that's what they did in the movies, right?

 **No. Forget that.  
Your mom buys cheap off brand stuff. That's going to rip as soon as you put your foot out the window.**

 **Aside from that you suck at tying.**

 **Remember two weeks ago? You can't even tie your own shoelaces.**

Morty's brow furled.  
He knew what event Rick was referring to. Two weeks ago, his shoelace was untied and he hadn't noticed, which resulted in him tripping over it and bashing his head against the lockers.

That accident left a deep, bleeding cut on his head, but the only thing that Rick had done was laugh his head off at him, instead of asking if he was okay or helping him.  
It was one of those moments where he wondered why he was even friends with the jerk.

So, he had gone to the infirmary on his own.  
However, after his stiches were done, Rick was there and actually walked him home. So, he wasn't really such a bad guy after all even if he sometimes was acting like a bully.

Morty rubbed with his finger absentmindedly over his temple. It didn't hurt anymore, but there was no doubt that it would leave a permanent – albeit faint – scar behind.

Another beep ripped him out of the memory.

 **Just stay put. I'll come over and pick you up.**

Morty let the hand that was holding the phone fall to his side.  
He had no doubt that Rick would bring another crazy invention with which he would get him out of the house undetected. Maybe it would be something like an invincibility cloak? Or he finally completed the modification on his motorbike so that he could actually fly with it and would just hover in front of Morty's window, asking him to get on?  
The possibilities were always endless when Rick was involved.

As he laid on his bed and waited for his friend to show up, he wondered once more why Rick was even bothering with him.  
Morty had actually always been an unpopular kid. He was socially awkward – since as far as he can remember back – and tended to stutter when he got nervous or excited, which always happened when he interacted with someone. People thought that he was retarded because of that and how could he blame them when even his own parents told him that he had some kind of mental disability.  
The boy never had had any friends and used to be holed up inside his room, reading sci-fi books or watching movies on his laptop.

Rick was the complete opposite of him. He was one of the most popular guys in their school, always the center of every party, love interest of countless girls and also feared by many who had been witness of his uncontrollable anger.  
Luckily, Morty had never been on the receiving end of that, but apparently, his bullies had been. Which was also the reason why Morty's bullies had been backing off ever since Rick became friends with him. Meaning that they at least left him alone as long as Rick was around. Frankly, he hadn't been to school that often lately so he had been avoiding the usual guys like Frank and Brad for quite a while in general.

However, it wasn't like Rick had put a stamp on Morty to declare to all of the school bullies that he was off limits now. In fact, Rick kept telling him that he needed to stand up to guys like that or he would only get constantly pushed around in the future as well.

Still, being friends with Rick helped him even though the whole fact still made no sense to Morty.  
Why bother being friends with a loner like him if Rick could be friends with anyone that he wanted?

However, aside from the shy brunet, the only people that Rick was close to was a calm and tall boy, who went by the name Brandon Parsons. Rick nicknamed him B.P. though, probably because he thought that name was too boring or something. Morty thought that it did fit the dark-haired teen who had a really obnoxious way of talking.  
Rick's other best friend was a short, ginger boy whose name was Sammy, but everyone called him Squanchy because he had a weird speech impediment that caused him to say the word "squanch" randomly in his sentences.

Now that Morty thought about it, maybe Rick actually preferred to hang out with weirdos who had speech problems instead of popular cliques. At least the brunet also fell into that category with his stutters – though he did improve and not stutter as much around Rick anymore other than when they were in a critical situation, which did happen more often than he liked.  
Rick himself was quite an eccentric one and had a stutter, but somehow no one was bothered by it – or they just didn't really notice because Rick somehow managed to speak normally around other people most of the time.

Morty didn't really know the story behind how Rick became such close friends with B.P. and Squanchy. The story how he and Morty got to know each other was a weird one though.  
Basically, Morty had started out as an errand boy for Rick.  
With the reputation that the blue haired genius had, Morty had been scared of him – more than he had ever been scared of any of his other bullies – and so he had just followed with whatever requests Rick came up.

The first time was probably even only a coincidence as their science teacher had asked Rick to carry some stuff from the preparation room to the classroom and Rick had looked around and his eyes just landed on Morty.  
He had briskly told the brunet to do it since he couldn't be bothered and Morty, scared that the other boy would hurt him if he disobeyed, had hurried to complete the task without any complaints. The equipment had been pretty heavy and Morty wasn't really the strongest guy – not like Rick, who looked like he must be working out even though Morty had never seen him doing that once even up to today – but it was still better than having his bones broken or something equally painful like that.

The times after that, however, Rick had been deliberately approaching him and giving him tasks like standing in line for him to buy his lunch or other mostly mundane tasks.  
While it was nothing that Morty couldn't do, he had felt very miserable and bullied by Rick in that time, since he just came back and constantly asked for more and more, starting to take up every bit of free time that Morty had in school – and sometimes even after school.

Morty felt like their relationship had started to change when Rick involved him more in his private life. One day, he had just asked the brunet if he was good at keeping secrets.  
Morty had been so scared at the question and the face that Rick had made that he had been close to wetting his pants. For a moment, he had wondered if the other wanted to make him an accomplice to a crime that he had planned like robbing a bank – or even worse, help murdering someone.

Still, too scared of being the one that would end up being murdered, he agreed nonetheless.  
Imagine his surprise when Rick had led him to a garage park and had shown him what was inside the garage that he had rented.  
While it was a known fact that Rick had only top grades despite barely paying attention in class – or most often not even attending – he didn't come off as a nerd.

However, what was inside the garage was something that could only be described as nerdy. There was an old car that was in the midst of either being repaired or converted and several gadgets were stacked on the shelves and workbench while almost every bit of free space on the wall was plastered with blueprints.  
Morty loved it.

While he wasn't doing all that great in school, he really loved science and everything sci-fi. And this, what Rick had here inside the garage, was like all the books that he had read and all the movies that he had watched coming to life.  
…well, at least many of these strange inventions looked like they came straight out of a sci-fi novel.

Ever since Rick had introduced him to his nerdy hobby, Morty had been promoted from a simple errand boy at school to his personal assistant.  
Apparently, this was a side of Rick that rarely anyone else go to see of him. And knowing this made Morty feel special.  
Special in a way that no one else had ever made him feel…

His mobile suddenly beeped again and ripped him out of the past.

 **I'm here.**

Morty swung himself out of his bed and went to his window, opening it.  
Indeed, Rick stood in the backyard, but he didn't seem to have any sort of invention with him that would help him getting down. This was just confusing and the brunet was about to say something, when the other suddenly threw something small on the ground.  
The "thing" inflated rapidly and proved to be some kind of airbed.

Morty got the feeling that it wasn't actually something of Rick's creation but seemed more likely to be something that he had just picked up along the way. And he doubted its safety.  
Yet Rick motioned towards the mattress and then tapped on his wrist, indicating his impatience.

"I-I-I'm not going to jump on that!"

"Shh!" Rick put his pointer finger in front of his lips, signaling Morty to lower his voice.

Then he replied in a whisper-shout, "Keep it down, will ya? Not much point to this if your parents hear you."

Morty bit his lip. Of course, he knew that the other was right, but that still didn't mean that he would jump on that small unsafe inflated thing and risk breaking his bones. It wouldn't be the first time that he had broken legs thanks to Rick…

"I'm not going to jump on that!" He repeated also in a whispered shout now.

"Don't be such a chicken, Morty!" Rick looked a little pissed off, but then he sighed and said, "I'll catch you if you gonna miss. Promise."

Morty couldn't believe that he was really reconsidering it now. Just because of what Rick had said. Promised.  
He trusted Rick even though he knew that it was a bad idea. It was insane. But he trusted him.  
With a sigh, he gave up and nodded.

However, before he found heart – and the guts – to really jump down, he remembered something. "Hold on a second!"

He ran to his closet and pulled out a bunch of his clothes, which he then threw on his bed and stuffed under the blanket.  
Normally, his parents never bothered checking on him. If anything, it was something that only his dad did and that usually when he was really bored – much to Morty's dismay.  
However, knowing his luck, his parents would actually decide to check up on him tonight when he was out, so he needed a decoy.

Critically he looked at the construction that he had built. The lump didn't really look like it could fool anyone into believing that he was laying under the covers and sleeping.  
But it always worked in the movies, right? So, Morty could only pray that this would work, too – or better yet, that no one would bother coming into his room while he was absent.

Morty returned to the window and climbed on the sill. His heart was stuck in his throat as he looked down again.  
Somehow, it looked higher than it should be.  
However, there was no time to stall anymore for him because Rick look so impatient that he was sure, he would climb up there and throw Morty out of the window without any concern for his safety or health if he kept waiting even a second longer.

Taking one last deep breath, Morty jumped down.  
The air-filled mattress cushioned most of the impact from his fall, but right after his landing he rolled off.

"Ouch." He commented and rubbed one of his legs even though it only hurt a little.

"Took you long enough." Rick seethed.

Without waiting for an explanation, he went over to the air mattress and lifted it up. "C'mon. Help me with this."

Morty got up and together they carried the airbed through the backyard and tried to stuff it behind the small toolshed in order to hide it from sight. It made the brunet actually wonder why Rick didn't just threw it away now, but figured that he was planning something for it later.

Then they wandered around the house, crouching low underneath the windows to stay undetected. As they got to the front, they continued down the street for a bit and Morty was tempted to ask if they would be walking when Rick's motorcycle came into view.  
Obviously, he didn't park it right in front of the Smith house. He might as well could have run around the house with a megaphone, shouting that they're crapping all over Morty's grounding.

They both climbed on the vehicle and put on their helmets, but like always when they did this, Morty felt nervous.  
Rick didn't actually had a license to drive a motorcycle (or any kind of motorized vehicle in fact) and he also wasn't old enough to do it. However, Morty knew that he had a fake license and id, which was why Rick wasn't worried at all.  
Luckily, Rick seemed to know what he was doing – like most of the time – and hadn't gotten them into any accidents. Yet.

Morty wrapped his arms tightly around Rick's middle as the motor came to life. While his grip wasn't as cramped and vice-like as the first time that Rick gave him a lift, he was still a little scared to fall off. And knowing the other, the spiky-haired boy would probably not even stop and come back to pick him up again.  
…At least it seemed likely that Rick would just continue to drive off without Morty.

As they drove through the city, the streets were mostly empty since it was already pretty late. Eventually, they left the outskirts behind.

After a while, Morty asked – shouting over the engine of the bike, "Isn't this far out enough already? How much longer are we going to drive?"

"Just wait, Morty."

Rick didn't pay him any more attention, his focus on the empty, gray street ahead.  
Several minutes more in silence passed before Rick steered the vehicle to the side of the street and parked there, seemingly at random.  
As both boys got off, Morty took a look at their surroundings. They were in the middle of some forest now.

"Wha-what are we doing here?" He asked confused.

Rick had told him that they would watch the meteor shower, but how were they supposed to see it from here, in the middle of the forest.

"Can't you just shut up for a while, Morty?" Rick replied gruffly. "You'll see."

While something in the brunet's gut told him that it would probably be a bad idea, he followed the boy in the blue t-shirt through a small and dark path that only seemed to lead deeper into the forest.  
It was so dark that he barely could see anything in front of him and he occasionally stumbled over a protruding root or something other in the underwood.  
Morty had no doubt that if he lost Rick here, he wouldn't be able to find his way back home again. He was completely disoriented and had no idea how the other was even able to navigate through this.  
Wherever it was they were going, it was quite a hike though, Morty could tell.

It took quite another while of continually walking uphill until the thicket gave way to a clearing.  
There were right at the top of a hill that provided a beautiful view of the fields down below. Morty was even able to faintly see the city lights in the distance from here.  
That wasn't the only thing that was perfectly viewable here though.

When Morty looked up into the sky, he was amazed at the sight. It was a clear night and not a single cloud was to be seen.  
The stars looked so bright and so close that Morty thought he would be able to touch them if he just reached out. He'd never been able to see this from home because of the light pollution.  
It was truly a beautiful sight.

"Come over here, Morty." Rick called out to him and ripped him out of his wonderment.

The blue-haired boy had walked over to a telescope that he must have brought here earlier. Morty joined him and Rick took a look through it before making place for Morty to also take a look.  
The sight through the telescope was certainly better from here than from home, too.

"This is the perfect spot for stargazing. I found it a few months ago. It's also super-secluded so we're the only ones here." Rick explained.

"This is really a great a spot, Rick." Morty agreed and turned his attention towards him again.

He wasn't sure if was just mistaking it in the darkness, but he thought that Rick looked embarrassed. "W-well, you're the f-fi-first one who I've brought to this place."

"Really?" The brunet was genuinely surprised. "You haven't even showed B.P. or Squanchy?"

"Nope. Just you, Morty."

That was unusual. Even if Morty knew that Rick didn't let just about anyone see his garage and inventions, he knew that at least Rick's closest friends had also gotten to see it.  
If not even those two had been here before, then it was really something. Morty already felt so special that Rick had chosen him to assist him with his personal science projects and that he had invited him to spend his time with him and watch this event together tonight, but knowing that he was the first one that Rick took to this place was some next level shit.

It made Morty feel all warm and his heart was beating a little faster. He was sure that he was probably blushing now and only hoped that it was too dark for Rick to notice.

"It should start any minute now." The spiky-haired boy commented after he checked one of his three watches that he always wore on his arm.

As if on cue, the first shooting star rocketed through the sky. Soon more joined them.  
Both boys sat down in the grass and watched the miraculous spectacle.

"Just soak—take it all in, Morty. This is a phenomenon that can only be witnessed every 300 years." Rick commented.

"Wow, Rick. It's amazing!"

Morty could feel Rick's hand suddenly land on his own and he briefly looked over the boy next to him. Rick still looked up into the sky as if he hadn't registered what he had just done and the brunet figured that it might have been unconsciously.  
However, Morty did notice that the other looked strangely content right now. Something, which was actually rare for Rick.

Morty ripped himself away from the sight to look back into the sky again, too. The thought of the unusual gesture was soon forgotten even if he could still feel the other's warmth as he was once more mesmerized by the meteor shower.

* * *

After the event was over, they made their way back downhill and to the parked motorcycle again. The ride home was a silent one, much like before, but this time Morty felt strangely content as he leaned a little against Rick's back.  
For some odd reason, he didn't feel as nervous anymore as before. Though, he couldn't figure out why that was.

However, as soon as they came to a stop in Morty's neighborhood the jitters were back again.  
He had almost completely forgotten that he was grounded and shouldn't even be out here right now. If his parents were going to find out that he had actually snuck out of the house there would be hell to pay…

"Well, see ya tomorrow, Morty." Rick said after Morty got off.

"Wait! Aren't you going to help me get back into my room?"

"Nope." Rick replied unbothered. "Can't you do it own your own?"

"How am I supposed to do that?" Morty asked back.

The spiky-haired boy rolled with his eyes. "You just walk through the front door and up the stairs, duh."

He didn't wait for any more retorts and just drove off.

"Rick! Wait!"

Morty's protests fell on deaf ears and he could only watch how the motorcycle rounded the corner and was out of sight again.

Someone tell him again why he was friends with this asshole?

With slumped shoulders, he made his way back to his house and not coming up with any better ideas, ventured in through the front door just as Rick had suggested.  
As soon as he stepped foot inside, the hallway lights flickered on.

"And where have you been?"

Morty found himself face to face with his angry parents.  
Needless to say that his decoy obviously hadn't worked and fooled them.  
Boy, he was in so much trouble now…


	2. Chapter 2: Rick and Morty forever and on

Warnings: Rick/Morty, mentioning of underage drinking, still keeping the slow burn going

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 2: Rick and Morty forever and one hundred years**

"S'up, Morty." Rick greeted him the next morning in the classroom before the start of first period.

The brunet looked grumpy and didn't grace his friend with an answer.

Seeing that attitude, the spiky-haired boy asked, "Jeez, what crawled up your ass?"

Morty finally turned around to the other. "Do you have any idea in how much trouble I got last night when I came home?! Of course, my parents noticed that I snuck out. They've taken away my phone now!"

"Pff." Rick dismissed it as if that punishment was nothing. "I can give you a new phone later, Morty."

"That's not the point! And I don't want one of your old phones or something."

"Morty, if I give you a phone it won't be some crappy old mobile. In fact, the one that I'm going to give you will be better than anything that you could buy on the market."

This seemed to calm the boy in yellow t-shirt down again. "Really?"

"Yeah. And now shut up, Morty." Rick replied gruffly.

The thought that he would actually get a smartphone from Rick was exciting. Morty knew that Rick's phone had all sorts of crazy functions that no other mobile had. Including something that made sure that it didn't need to be recharged. Also, it was indestructible.

It was pretty amazing to think that he would be getting a modified one like that, too, now. Maybe it wasn't so bad that he had been found out by his parents after all.  
…though, having to sit through the entire tirade hadn't been a very pleasant experience.

Before he even fully realized his giddiness and could feel ashamed about it, the bell rang, signaling that class started.  
Mr. Goldenfold looked critically over his seated students.

"Listen up, yo!" He practically yelled and his spittle dotted the desks in the front row. "I know that you do need some motivation from time to time and a lot you of hadn't done really well in the last test. So, I hope that you have learned from your mistakes and studied, because we're having a surprise quiz now on the same topic again."

He ignored the collective groans that resounded in the classroom and handed the stacks of paper out, which the students then passed to the back.  
Morty shouldn't have been surprised about the sudden test. After all, this explained why Rick was even attending this period right now.

While Rick's record of attendance was horrible, he always made sure to show up for the tests – probably to keep his grades up as he did. Also, that way the teacher's couldn't really give him shit for skipping or not paying attention in class.  
However, how Rick always knew when the teachers would give them unannounced tests so he could be there for those, too, was still a mystery to Morty.

If he wouldn't know any better, he'd say that Rick was probably cheating his way through school. He knew that the other had all the means to do it, too.  
It would be easy for Rick to get all the test answers prior. Yet, Morty knew that he was a genius and didn't need to go through the effort to do it.  
Even if he was barely attending, he was cruising through his classes and at times, he even embarrassed the teachers when they said something wrong in front of the entire class – which was probably also a reason why none of the teachers complained about him skipping so often.

Morty had even heard some rumors that Rick would have been able to skip several grades if it wasn't for that horrible attendance record and attitude that he had in the face of authorities.  
In a way, Morty was glad that he didn't, because otherwise they would have never get to know each other. And even if it was often hard having to deal with Rick and "doing stuff" for him, his life would be considerably more boring if the spiky-haired boy wasn't in it.

At the moment, he cursed Rick for that fact though, because not only didn't he get to make his homework yesterday since the other had kept him busy the whole afternoon _and_ evening, but also because he didn't get to study this topic thanks to the constant distractions and "other things that were more important".

His brows furled as he stared down at the math problems hard enough to burn a hole in the sheet of paper.  
Everyone else was busy scribbling down answers while he had trouble even understanding the questions. However, the harder he stared at it, the less he could actually focus and eventually the numbers started to become blurry.

He rapidly blinked to get his eyes to focus again, but his sight only got better once he finally looking up from the paper and around the classroom.  
Scanning through seats and busy students his eyes fell unwittingly on Jessica in the front.

Ever since he'd entered high school he had a crush on the redhead. Unfortunately, Morty wasn't a very noticeable or desirable boy and on top of that he was shy and socially awkward. So, it was no surprise that he hadn't gotten the chance to go on a date with her yet.

However, since he had become friends with Rick, he at least got the occasional chances to spend some time with her every once in a while. Rick knew that he was crushing on her and while he did like to make fun of Morty for it, he actually tried to help him out.

For example, at the last party that Summer had thrown at their house when their parents had been away on a "reconnection weekend".  
Rick had caused a big scene (while surprisingly not being the center of it himself, but putting Jessica's boyfriend, Brad, on the spot), which had only been a distraction so that he could talk to the girl alone when she had been upset about her date's behavior.  
It even had went pretty well until Squanchy happened to ruin moment.

Needless to say that despite the occasional chances to talk to her and even the one time that they danced together, he still couldn't work up the nerve to actually ask her out. If it wasn't for Rick's help, he wouldn't even have gotten this far.  
And he couldn't help but feel super self-conscious about himself.

Rick certainly didn't have problems like that. If he wanted, he could get every girl in their school. He certainly had dated quite a few of the prettier and popular ones already, but had promised Morty that he would stay away from Jessica.

 _"Don't worry, Morty. 'M not that kind of guy. She-she-she's all yours."_ He had assured him in a slurred speech at one point when he was completely drunk.

And Morty didn't doubt that Rick would stay true to his word. Honestly, this wasn't on the list of his worries.  
Yet, he knew that if Rick wanted, he would also be able to date Jessica and it made him wonder how the blue-haired boy did it.  
Morty would understand that all the girls were head over heels for him if he would be like the other popular guys – the ones that were tall and playing in the football team or other sport teams.

Rick wasn't any of that though. He scoffed at sports – being more interested in science even if it was kind of a secret – and he was the same height as Morty, which was considered short for their age.  
And yet, Rick managed to turn every physical feature that they had in common and Morty felt self-conscious about, into something that the brunet admired about him. It was just weird.  
Maybe it was just the fact that Rick was so confident about his appearance. Who knew that that could make such a big difference?

As he thought about his best friend, his eyes drifted over towards said boy, who was seated right next to him.  
His paper was turned over, his pencil rested on the desk and he had his arms crossed over his chest and a bored expression on his face.

Was he already done with the test?!

Morty's eyes bugged at the realization – especially since he still hadn't written even a single answer down.  
Rick's gaze fell on him and he smirked. It was the kind of expression that he gave Morty when he was like "let's bust this place and get out of here" and he had no doubt that Rick would drag him out of the school again right after this class would be over.

He turned back to his virgin sheet of paper and once more tried to comprehend the questions on it. Giving up after another few moments of staring, he decided to just write down some random numbers in the hopes that by some chance of luck at least some answers might be right.  
At least it was better than just handing in an empty paper…

* * *

"Um, Rick? I-I-I don't think this is such a good idea." Morty said nervously as he was pulled by his wrist through the doors of the school. "I mean, the reason why I was grounded is because I've been skipping school so much."

Just as Morty had expected, as soon as they handed the papers over and the bell rang, Rick had grabbed his backpack and Morty and marched straight towards the exit.

"No, Morty. The actual reason why you're grounded is because you suck at school and are failing all of your classes." Rick deadpanned. "See, if you would do it like me and just get good grades on the tests, no one would bother you about this."

Morty hated that Rick was right. Still, it was only part of the reason – though decidedly the part that also determined the time span for his punishment.  
Yet, Morty was no genius like the other, so he couldn't just get good grades on the tests without putting any effort into it. He needed time to study for that – or at least attend classes so he could even learn about the topics that they were getting tested on to begin with!

"Maybe I'd get better grades if you would let me stay in class so I can learn something?!" he shouted indignantly and put up a little more of a fight, yet not enough to stop the other from dragging him.

"Bullshit, Morty! You wouldn't learn anything there even if you would sit through those boring lectures. Just like me." Rick remarked and again Morty hated it that he probably did have a point with that. "I've told you before that school is stupid. It-it-it's for people who don't know what to do with their future. I already know what I want to do in the future. And if you're sticking with me, Morty, we're going to do great things together."

The brunet's heart fluttered at that admission. Even though he should probably feel a bit frightened at the prospect, all he could feel was excitement at the realization that Rick wanted to spend more time with him. Wanted to make great accomplishments with Morty by his side. Even far into the future.

"Really, Rick?" Morty had given up fighting completely and hurried up to walk alongside Rick even if it wasn't easy catching up with his quick strides.

"Of course, Morty!" The spiky-haired boy grinned at him broadly. "It's just going to be us against the rest of the world. Against the rest of the universe! Just "Rick and Morty"! It's going to be "Rick and Morty for-for hundr—forever and one hundred years"!"

Rick's positive mood was infectious and Morty smiled so hard that he could feel his facial muscles aching.  
 _Rick and Morty forever and one hundred years._  
He liked the sound of that.  
Again, Morty could feel that warmth that he often felt around Rick and he was sure that he was blushing again.

He really needed to stop doing that!  
But, he couldn't help it. Before Rick came along no one ever bothered with him. The only attention that he got was that from his bullies, but there was no one who would want to spend their time with him or – god forbid – even be friends with him.  
No one ever looked at him. No one ever saw him. Not even his own family.  
Summer was always too busy on her phone to pay really attention to him. Or, she was trying to be popular at school and therefore acted as if there was no relation between them whatsoever.

And his parents were too busy with their failing marriage and constant arguments that they also never took notice of him. They rarely bothered asking if anything had happened at school or elsewhere and when they did, it was only out of the obligation to strike some sort of conversation because they never listened to him anyway.  
He could have said that someone held a knife to his throat and his dad would still say his standard answer of "That's nice, Sweetie." while still playing that stupid balloon game on his tablet-PC. And that wouldn't even have been a lie made up to get some attention because his bully Frank had certainly held a knife to his throat on more than just one occasion.

Rick was the only who actually saw him. The only one who listened to him. The only one who was willing to spend time with him.  
He was the only friend that Morty ever had. And not only that, but also the only person that he met who loved science as much as he did.  
One, who was actually brilliant enough to create his own inventions. And he trusted Morty enough to not only show him and let him near them, but also asking him to help with them. Assisting him with this amazing work.  
And Morty cherished that above everything.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Rick had dragged him all the way to his rented garage. It was his personal workshop and the place where he had stored most of his inventions and constantly built new ones.  
Rick input a code into a lock pad next to the garage door. He actually had installed it himself and all sorts security measures that weren't actually supposed to be in this little building. Morty thought that Rick was maybe a little bit too paranoid about it, but he also understood that these inventions were very important to Rick.

As the door slowly lifted upwards, Morty let his gaze glide over everything inside that was touched by the sunlight.  
Everything still looked the same as last time that he had been here – which was really just yesterday.  
Blueprints were plastered all over the walls, the newer ones of Rick's current projects were pinned right above the workbench. An old, currently still not functioning car sat in the middle of the garage. Rick was trying to actually turn it into a space ship. It was one of his bigger and longer-lasting projects and something that he had already started to work on before he had even met Morty for the first time.

There were also some empty beer cans littering the floor. Morty hadn't found the time to clear those away yesterday.  
Sometimes he thought if he wasn't there and constantly cleaning up the place, Rick would drown in the mess that he caused here.  
Despite being cool and a genius, Rick had a serious alcohol problem. It was something that Morty decidedly didn't like – especially when Rick got totally wasted and he had to take care of him then – but it was nothing that he wasn't already used to from his mother.

A ratty mattress laid still in one corner. Morty figured that Rick probably used it when he stayed here for too long, working till late into the night on one of his gadgets or was just too drunk to actually make his way home.  
…wherever it was that Rick lived.

In all the time, that he had known Rick, he hadn't ever visited him at his home. He didn't even know where exactly Rick lived and from what he had heard from B.P. and Squanchy neither have them or anyone else.  
It seemed to be another well-guarded secret of Rick Sanchez. One that was even better guarded than his workshop.  
Maybe Rick would eventually let him in on that, too, and invite him over for once…

The spiky-haired teen went over to his workbench and shrugged on the white lab coat that hung over the back of his swivel chair. Then he rummaged around in some drawers, clearly looking for something.  
As he finally found the item, he held it up triumphantly and walked back over to Morty.

"Here." He only commented as he handed him the object.

Morty took it and recognized it as a smartphone.  
Oh, right! Rick had said that he'd give him one since his phone had been taken away.

"It's my spare one, but since I never needed it, you can keep it." Rick elaborated as he was already on his way back to the workbench and took a seat.

"Really? Thanks, Rick!"

Morty pocketed it and then joined Rick, looking over the mess of assembled spare parts in front of his friend. On the wall, right above them, were two rather large blue prints depicting the exact gadget that laid on the desk now.

"Have you found a way to make your portal gun work?" He asked curiously.

It was currently Rick's hottest project and one that he had spent countless of sleepless nights on…at least Rick had told him that.  
Yesterday, the genius had been excited to present to him how far he had gotten with it. It was supposed to be functioning, but somehow he hadn't managed to start it up so there was nothing exciting to see other than Rick's frustration with it.

"I fixed it last night, so it should be working now, Morty. For real." He sounded pretty confident this time…then again, so he had yesterday. "Watch this, Morty."

He aimed with the rifle-like gun at the wall and shot. For a moment, Morty was worried that it would destroy the wall or that the thing would just explode. It wouldn't be the first invention that did.  
However, nothing of the sort happened. What happened instead was that something like a blue swirling hole appeared. It didn't look like it was inside the wall either, but rather like it was stuck to it.

"Cool, right?" Rick commented and sounded full of pride. "But that's not all. Now watch this."

He repeated the action and aimed next to the first hole, creating another one, which looked equal in shape and color.

"Wow, Rick!" Morty was fascinated.

Rick had really managed to create portals with his gun, just like in that videogame. The idea of what things they could do with this were practically endless…

"Hold on, Morty. Now comes the real test."

The other bent down and reached for his built-in fridge. Despite Morty's expectations, he didn't grab a beer can like usually, but actually took out an apple.  
While there wasn't much food inside the fridge, Rick usually had some fruit and vegetables stored. It made Morty think that despite his unhealthy habits of drinking and smoking, Rick had a surprisingly healthy diet at least.

Rick didn't eat the apple that he retrieved though. Instead, he threw it through one of the swirling blue holes. It looked almost as if someone on the other side of the portal had copied the same motion at exactly the same time that Rick did because the apple came flying back through the other portal just after it went into the first one.  
However, it didn't look as fresh and appetizing as it had before. In fact, it resemble more a piece of coal now as it had been completely charred.

Both boys made long faces as they looked at the burned fruit.

"Argh! Dammit!" Rick slammed his hands down at the top of his workbench.

His temper was starting to show through again in the face of his failure.

"W-well, it did work though." Morty tried to cheer his discouraged friend up. "I-I mean it went through one portal and wen-came out tho-through the other."

"Have you even been paying attention to what just happened, Morty?!" Rick yelled, leaving his frustration out on the yellow-shirted boy now. "Are you blind or did you really not see how that came out of the other portal, you idiot?! It clearly doesn't work! Biological matter can't pass through it, unless you don't care about you ending up as a burnt corpse when you go through it. You want that, Morty?!"

"I—no! Jeez, Rick. I'm sorry. I just thought that—"

"You're an idiot, Morty! That's why you leave the thinking to me!"

There it was again. Rick's asshole-ish behavior. And while Morty should be already used to those antics by now, it still made him upset.  
Right after those big words of _Rick and Morty forever and one hundred years_ …

In order not to annoy or aggravate Rick any further, Morty kept his distance now and busied himself with cleaning up the empty beer cans from the floor.  
Even if he wasn't as smart as Rick, he could still find a way to be useful to him.  
Rick meanwhile was frantically dissembling the malfunctioning gun, not paying any more attention to the boy whose feelings he had just hurt with his outburst…

* * *

AN: INCONSISTENT CHAPTER LENGTH! My archenemies! But this just felt like a good way to end the chapter…or maybe not. That's all for now though.


	3. Chapter 3: Coming over for Dinner

Warnings: still keeping the Rick/Morty slow burn going, also some dissing Jerry (but who likes him anyway?)

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 3: Coming over for Dinner**

They were still inside the garage and Morty was still wandering around with a big trash bag in his hand, filling it with the empty beer cans that were strewn all over the floor.  
By now he had his emotions back under control and Rick had probably also calmed down again – or, at least, Morty hoped that he did. It was hard to tell with the other being so silent and busy tinkering with his portal gun.  
He looked over to the teen who was leaning over his workbench and staring down as the pulled apart gadget while also double-checking with his blueprints to search for the mistake.

"Hey, Rick." Morty started. "Why don't you just let the portal gun be for now and work on something else instead? I mean, what about the space car. Don't you want to finish that one first?"

The brunet's eyes drifted to the piece of machinery that was the leftover of a car that Rick had picked up from some scrapyard.  
This one had been already in the garage long before Morty had even met Rick and was one of his longest lasting projects yet. The first time that he had seen the car, which's model couldn't really be identified anymore, he had thought that it maybe was a DeLorean and Rick was trying to build a time machine.

As Morty had told the other his thoughts though, he had commented, _"This isn't "Back to the Future", Morty!"_

Rick didn't really see the point in building a time machine – though, he said that he probably could, if he really wanted to – and revealed that he was actually planning to convert this piece of scrap metal into a space cruiser.  
While a time machine would have been cool, Morty also realized that time travel came with all sorts of risks. Travelling through space – while also considered dangerous – sounded exciting, too, and the brunet had actually started to look forward to the completion of the space ship…uh, car.

"I would continue to build the cruiser, but I started with the portal gun and had hoped to complete it so I can get the materials that I would need for the car easier." Rick began to explain. "You know, that I can't just use _any_ material for it, right Morty? It would need to endure really high temperatures for the start but also for returning into the planet's atmosphere and I also don't want to have to build a new one after every landing, so it also needs to withstand the impact of that. But in truth that isn't even the biggest problem that I have. I mean, I know how to get those materials. At this point it just takes a lot of time and money…"

He sighed deeply and threw the screwdriver that he held in his hand hard on the work surface before he turned in his swivel chair around to Morty.

"You do know how NASA is sending their rockets into space, right Morty?"

The boy nodded at that, having watched quite a few launches on TV or videos of it on the internet.

"The method that they're using is just is-it-it's archaic!" The blue-haired teen sounded offended. "And do you know how long it takes for them to get to mars, Morty? It's taking them around 7 years! Seven long fucking years, Morty! And that is when they time it with mars being in its closest position to earth. Mars! A directly neighboring planet!"

Rick stood up from his chair and began to walk around as he began to wildly gesture with his hands. To anyone, he would have looked like a madman now and would probably freak people out, but Morty was already used to his best friends antics and was only mildly worried.

"You know, Morty, when I go out ther-to—into space, I don't plan to hang around on just a planet in the-the-the neighborhood. I want to be able to travel through our solar system and get to the next one over in no more than a single day." Rick continued and his eyes looked as if he was currently not in the garage but with his thoughts far, far away. "So the crucial thing that I need for the space cruiser is a new fuel. One that hasn't been invented on earth yet, that-that no human had even thought about yet!"

He suddenly stopped pacing and looked at the ground. "But I'm afraid that there might not even be materials on earth that I could use to create such super fuel… So maybe, I need to focus on something else that allows me to travel off-planet—or, no! Even further than that! Maybe something li-like—that allows me to create a rip in space and time so that I can go to different dimensions…?"

"Holy crap! How late is it?!" Morty's sudden yell completely ripped Rick out of his current train of thoughts.

"What? Why do you need to know?"

"'Cause I need to g-go—get home a-a-as soon as school's out, so my parents won't know that I skipped again. I-I-I'm still grounded, too, o-or have you forgotten that?" The brunet turned into full-on panic mode as his eyes fell on the clock that hung on the wall. "W-wa-wait! What if the principal called my parents again? I-I-I'm sure he called them again since I was skipping classes!"

"Calm down, Morty. I fixed the phone and also rigged Vag's mobile. His call went through the call divert earlier and I reprogrammed the AI to imitate your dad, so chill out. Here, take a—listen to that."

With those words, Rick pulled out his mobile and dialed a number. He put it on speaker and held it up so Morty could listen with no problem as well.  
After a few rings, the receiver picked up and a voice that sounded like his father suddenly spoke.

"Hello? Jerry Smith here. Who is calling?"

"Hi. Am I talking to Morty's dad?" Rick asked.

"Yes, I'm Morty's father. Jerry Smith. And I looove sucking biiiig, sweaty boners and licking disgusting, furry testicle sacks." Came the natural-sounding reply.

Rick laughed loudly and hung up again. "See?"

"That doesn't really sound like my dad! I mean, it's his voice but he would never talk like that!" Morty protested with a frown.

"What? I think that this totally sounds like him." Rick argued back.

"How can you say that, Rick? You haven't even met my dad yet."

"Yeah, not in person…" the other drawled off.

What was that supposed to mean? Could it actually be that Rick had…?

Morty got a bad feeling as a certain suspicion was dawning on him.  
It couldn't really be that Rick had installed cameras and microphones in his house, or could it?

Why would his best friend do something like that? And when should he have done that?  
Rick had never actually been over to his house…other than that one time when Summer had thrown a party on that weekend when their parents were gone, much to Morty's dismay who had to help cleaning the mess up again to avoid them both getting into trouble. However, it was impossible to think that his best friend had wandered through the house and planted this stuff without anyone else noticing. Also, he was pretty damn sure that his best friend had been too busy partying.

No, it was impossible to think that Rick had bugged his house somehow. While it was technically possible for him to do something like that, it made no sense.  
Rick couldn't have done that!

Morty hastily shook his head to get rid of his paranoid thoughts. "Anyways. When did you even do that?"

"Last night, after we came back from watching the meteor shower."

Last night? When had Rick slept then when he had been doing all that stuff last night?

"I know that I messed up that one time. Even though that usually never happens. But I rectified it and I sure as hell won't make the same mistake twice, so stop looking at me like that, Morty!"

The brunet shook his head again. "Still, I need to get home really quick or I get in more trouble than I already am!"

"What can your parents actually do to you at this point? Lock you up in the basement that you don't have?" Rick joked.

The humor was lost on the yellow-shirted boy and even if his friend might have a point, he still frowned deeply at the other.

"Okay, okay. I'll give you a lift." Rick said and went to grab their helmets.

The prospect of getting a quick ride home finally calmed Morty down and he accepted the helmet with a small smile on his face.  
Sometimes Rick was really a great friend…even though Rick _was_ the reason why he was in all this trouble to begin with.

* * *

The drive towards Morty's home was a silent but not an uncomfortable one.

"Rick? Please drop me off here. I'll walk the rest home." Morty suddenly spoke up when they were just a few streets away from his house.

Rick stopped his vehicle as requested, but asked. "What? Why? I can drive you to your front door. This isn't like last night when you snuck out."

"It's so my parents don't see you. I'm not supposed to hang out with you anymore." The brunet took off the helmet and stood up from the motorbike. "They think that you're a bad influence on me."

Rick scoffed at that after he had also slipped his helmet off. "As if."

However, his face said the opposite as if he knew exactly that he was not good for Morty. That being around the innocent boy was tainting him and Rick would eventually destroy him because he was toxic…

"Hey! How about I ask my parents to invite you over for dinner on weekend or something, so that they can see that you're not so bad?" Morty tried to lighten the mood with this ingenious offer.

"What good would that do?" Rick didn't see the point. "I doubt that your parents are going to agree to that."

At Morty's crestfallen expression, he quickly added, "But if they're okay with it, sure. I'll show up."

The brunet smiled brightly at that answer and maybe it was just a trick of the light, but it looked like Rick was blushing.

"Great! I'll ask my parents and let you know when to come over. I'm sure when they see what a good guy you are, they'll let me hang out with you again. I'll still be grounded though, but at least you can come over to visit me or something."

Rick looked a bit skeptical and if Morty was honest, he wasn't quite so convinced either. He knew that Rick wasn't really such a good guy – he was sometimes, but that was it.  
This would only work if Rick presented himself from his best side. But surely, he would manage to do that for one evening, wouldn't he?  
Well, Morty hoped at least that he would.

He bid his best friend goodbye and hurried home, careful to get his timing right so to not arise suspicion.  
Apparently, that didn't matter though because shortly after he entered, his dad called him over into the parlor.  
Both of his parents were sitting on the couch and watching TV and they were miraculously not arguing with each other.

"Morty? Have you hung out with your friend Rick again today?" Jerry asked skeptically.

The question made Morty nervous. Did Rick's invention fail again and the principal had called even if his friend claimed that it worked perfectly earlier?  
Deciding that this might just be a trick question to make him confess something that they didn't know about, the brunet put on his best poker face and answered.

"Well, we're in almost all the same classes, so I can't really avoid him at school, Dad."

Jerry still bore with his eyes into him as if he was trying to poke hole in his son's logic.

"He's got a point, Jerry." Beth spoke up. "We can't make Morty avoid his friend at school. That's ridiculous."

"Sorry, that I don't want our son to hang out with that hooligan and end up becoming a criminal." The older brunet fired back.

"Rick isn't a hooligan!" Morty protested before his mother even had the chance to reply something.

Having his parents' eyes completely focused on him again made nervousness flare up in his gut once more, but now that he had their attention, he needed to pull through. "He-he really isn't such a bad guy. And you can't judge him because you don't know him. You've never even met him, Dad."

"Well, I can't see how that's going to change." Jerry protested back.

This was the perfect prompt that Morty had been waiting for. "Then how about we invite him over for dinner on weekend?"

Beth was the one who was quicker to answer now. "Oh, that's a great idea, Sweetie! It would be nice to meet your friend Rick in person for once."

"Beth!" Jerry protested and looked anything but happy at the prospect of inviting a potential criminal inside his house.

"Oh, c'mon, Jerry. Morty had never a friend over at our house. And this also a good chance to see with who our son is hanging out with." She tried to give her husband an encouraging smile.

Jerry only sighed and gave in. "Fine."

Morty was glad that his parents had actually accepted his idea. And all of that without even breaking out into one of their big arguments like so often, which usually ended in both of them ignoring their son completely and leaving the issue that he brought up unresolved.

"Great! I'll tell Rick! Uh, tomorrow at school!" He quickly caught himself on that one.

If he let them knew that he got a new phone from Rick, they would immediately confiscate it again.  
After he hurried up to his room, he immediately texted his best friend the good news. The response he got didn't sound as enthusiastic as he felt right now, but it was good enough. Rick promised him that he would show up.

 **Okay. Fine. I'll come over for dinner then.**

* * *

On Saturday evening, Morty was so nervous and excited that he wasn't even sure that he could eat dinner without throwing up. Honestly, he felt like he might barf right now.  
He constantly glanced at the clock. Rick was supposed to be here any moment now and he hoped that he wouldn't give his parents a bad first impression by being late – because his parents didn't care if it was "fashionable" or not.

Morty paced through the parlor and was driving his sister, who was sitting on the couch and trying to watch TV, almost insane.

"God, Morty, calm down. This is just Rick who's coming over and not your girlfriend or something like that."

The notion of a girlfriend threw Morty so out of his loop that he stumbled over his feet. Luckily, he still caught himself before crashing head first into the couch table.  
He didn't need another scar on his head or Rick making fun of him for it again.

Before Morty could comment on what his sister just said, he was interrupted by the sound of a familiar engine roaring right in front of their house.  
It was Rick!

Forgetting everything else, he stormed to the front door and swung it open to greet his friend. Rick just got off his motorcycle and pulled the helmet off, then ran a hand through his spiky hair to fix it, before he ventured over the brunet who was waiting for him like a puppy that had waited for his owner to come home.

Morty noticed that the other hadn't bothered with dressing up. He wore basically the same blue t-shirt and khakis that he wore every other day.  
It made Morty feel a little silly, since he had actually pulled out one of his better dress shirts – a yellow button up shirt with the top two buttons undone – for the occasion. Thankfully, he had decided to stick to his simple jeans, or he would have felt completely overdressed now.

"Hey." The other greeted him casually as he finally reached the front door.

"Hi, Rick. C-come in." Morty invited overeagerly.

"What's with the outfit? You're having a date after this dinner thing?" Rick snickered a little.

A blush immediately worked itself up on Morty's face.  
God, he did feel overdressed now!

"U-uh, no. Ju-just thought since you see me ina-in my plain boring t-shirt ea-every day that I could wear sum-something different for yo—for once." He quickly caught himself at the end there.

"Looks good on you." Rick commented as he obediently followed the other teen into the parlor.

"Tha-thanks, Rick." Morty stuttered to the obvious compliment and turned a tiny bit redder.

No one had ever complimented him on his looks before…

"Hey, Rick." The redhead that was still lazing on the couch greeted casually.

Rick took a seat right next to her and they fist bumped. "Hey, Sum-Sum. What's up?"

"Nothing much right now."

Obviously, Summer and Rick already knew each other from school. While Morty's sister was usually someone who fawned about all the hot guys in school, Rick had been an exception to the rule. Or, maybe she had had a small crush on him and was over it already.  
Whatever the case, since he was one of the popular kids, she tried to stay in his good favors and they could probably consider each other as friends. At least they were cool with each other.

It was at least one thing that Morty didn't need to worry about. His entire worries were focused on how his parents would think of Rick.

"Wasn't there supposed to be dinner?" Rick asked, but looked like he already made himself feel at home in front of the TV.

"My mo-mom and dad are still in the kitchen, but it should be done pretty soon." Morty hastily explained. "I-I-I should probably check up on them and see if they need any help."

Without waiting for a response, he already made a beeline straight for the mentioned room. Both of his parents were indeed still standing at the stove and adding some last spices to the food – or rather discussing if and what spices should be added to it.  
In all truth, the sight of his mother cooking was such a rare one. Usually she was too busy with work and when she did cook something, it was always something microwaved or warmed up frozen food.

Cooking wasn't her strength, but thankfully his father was pretty decent at it.  
This made Morty occasionally wonder if it was the reason why his mother had actually married him, so she wouldn't need to worry about that anymore.

"I'm telling you, there needs to be more salt in the sauce." Beth argued.

"Believe me, Beth, there doesn't. The roast is already plenty salted, so if you add anymore to the sauce, it would be too much." Jerry argued back.

"Yeah, but if you eat the sauce together just with the potatoes and vegetables, it tastes too stale."

"No one eats it that way!"

"Um—" Morty dared interrupting his parents who were already salty enough from their discussion that no spice would be needed for dinner anymore. "R-Rick's here."

"Where is he right now?" His father asked, not looking happy about the news at all.

"H-he-he's in the den. Watching TV with Summer." Morty quickly added the last part before his dad would come down on him for leaving his friend unattended in their house.

"This is great, Sweetie. Dinner is almost ready." Beth smiled, though it did look a little forced. "Be a darling and set up the table, will you?"

"S-sure." The small brunet went over to the cupboard and got out the plates.

"And be careful not to drop the plates." The blonde added in a chastising tone.

She acted as if he let plates drop every day or something. Which was of course not the case! Even if he was a little clumsy sometimes, he wasn't a little kid!

"I won't drop them, okay?" He replied in a slightly annoyed voice.

However, just after he said that, the tableware almost slipped from his fingers. He barely managed to catch the dishes again before they crashed on the floor.  
…that was a close one.

Deciding to be a bit more careful and acting as if that hadn't just happened, he proceeded with setting up the table.  
After all the tableware and the food was placed and everyone was called to the table and seated, Rick was the one who began with the conversation.

"I knew from Morty that you are a very intelligent woman, but he never mentioned that you are such a beauty, too, Beth." He directed at the blonde. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't even ask if first name basis is okay with you. I can call you Mrs. S. if you prefer that."

"It's okay. You can call me Beth, Rick." Morty's mother giggled, obviously flattered by the compliment.

Jerry looked horrified between his wife and the guest, not believing that this was happening.

"Hmm. The food's delicious. Did you cook it?" Rick asked after he took a first bite.

"I'm the one, who cooked it." Jerry interrupted rudely.

"It was a combined effort." Beth said and threw her husband a warning glare for that.

"Well, I can certainly taste your love in it, Beth."

The blonde giggled again. "Oh, you."

Morty swallowed nervously as he could feel the tension rising in the air around him like thunderclouds that were gathering overhead. Just what was Rick doing?  
It was nice that he got along with his mother, but his dad was throwing glances at his best friend that could potentially kill.

"Hey, Morty. Could you please hand me the salt?" Rick suddenly asked.

Morty's mother threw another glance over at her husband as she said. "I'm sorry, Rick, that the sauce is a little stale. I wanted to add some more salt to it, but someone else wouldn't let me."

The yellow-shirted teen's mouth dropped and he stared in disbelieve at his best friend, who only grinned.  
Had Rick somehow overheard that conversation in the kitchen and did this purposely? But how could he have overheard that?  
Summer would have surely caught him if he would have gotten up from the couch to eavesdrop on them.

Again, Morty felt paranoia settle in as he had the suspicion that Rick might have planted microphones inside the house. While he had no reason to do that, he certainly had the means…

Despite the bad feeling in his stomach, the brunet followed the request and passed him the saltshaker.

"Thanks."

For a moment, there was silence around the table and only the typical noises that accompanied the devouring of a meal could be heard before Jerry finally decided to land his first strike against their guest.

"So, Rick. I've been wondering what you have actually planned for your future? With skipping school all the time, the goals can't be really that high, right?"

"What the hell, Jerry?" Beth hissed.

"Dad?!" Even Morty was shocked at that direct approach of his father.

"That's a low blow, Dad." Summer, who had been silent until now, threw in.

"Nah, it's okay." Rick assured the people, who were clearly on his side here. "I know that I'm not attending school very often, but that's because I think it's stupid. As for what I'm planning to do in the future, I'll be a scientist. In fact, I already am one, which is also the reason why I'm so frequently absent from high school."

"Morty mentioned that he's helping you with some projects." Beth's friendly demeanor was back. "Any _breakthroughs_ yet."

"A few, but nothing that I'm too proud of."

"So, what? You've been winning a few school science fairs? What are the prizes for those? Hundred dollar or something?" The older brunet still sounded unimpressed.

"Oh, I'm not wasting my time with science fairs. However, I do sell my inventions or the patents to them, so I make quite a sum on the side." The blue-haired teen was smug now. "I'm sure, I earn more with that then you do, Jerry. Oh, wait! You're unemployed, so that doesn't really sound like such a big feat. In comparison to you everyone makes more money."

Jerry's facial features derailed, but the statement made Beth laugh loudly while Summer whooped at the comeback.  
Even Morty couldn't quite hide the smile at his father's epic defeat even if this was not how the evening was supposed to go and he should be rightfully worried now.

The family patriarch shut up after that, however, he still threw occasional angered glances at the spiky-haired teen, who entertained the rest of the family during dinner with his charm, wit and funny jokes.

* * *

After Rick had left and Morty fell into his bed, completely exhausted from the events today, he thought that maybe it hadn't gone that bad.  
At least his mom seemed to like Rick and his sister had always been cool with him. Just his dad seemed to have a dislike for the teen, but that was also not completely unexpected after what had occurred.

Deciding that it was more important to him what his mom thought about Rick, since she was always the one who had the last word, Morty decided that it was a success.  
However, as the voices of his arguing parents reached his ears, he sighed.  
It didn't particularly mean that they were quarreling about Rick right now. They always found something to argue about, but it was most likely that their current fight was related to the events of this evening.

Morty decided that he didn't want to give a fuck about it this time and pulled his pillow over his head so that he could sleep in peace. This was how he dealt more and more often with his parents' arguing lately.  
Not that there was anything that he could do about it. He tried, he honestly did, by helping around the house, trying to be a good boy and acting responsible, but it didn't help.

Summer kept saying that it would only stop once they would finally divorced, and while Morty did see her point, he didn't want that.  
He just wanted for his parents to make up and love each other as they used to in the past…they surely still did. They just needed to see past their disagreements and learn to be happy with their lives again.

Morty didn't really know how his sister was able to be so calm about it. She didn't particularly care if they argued unless it involved her, which led to an even bigger argument that always ended with Summer storming to her room crying and claiming that she would leave – but she thankfully never did, because Morty could stop her every time – and their parents continuing to fight.  
She certainly didn't seem scared by the prospect that they might eventually "walk different ways".

With uneasy thoughts and the dull voices of his parents in the background, Morty eventually fell asleep.

Just across the hall, Beth and Jerry Smith were still in a heated discussion. And unsurprisingly it was about none other than Rick Sanchez.

"I don't know what your problem is, Jerry! Rick is a decent kid. He's smart and he's already earning money and not by delivering newspapers. He's good for Morty and you should be proud of our son that he managed to find a friend like that." Beth was currently busy taking out her earrings as she looked angrily back at her husband through a small mirror.

"I don't know, Beth! Is he really such a good friend?!" Jerry argued back. "Because if I were a decent teenager, I wouldn't be openly flirting with my friend's mother!"

"He wasn't flirting!"

"Oh, let's see here! Calling you by your first name. Making you compliments. To me that certainly sounded like flirting! And you were flirting right back at him!"

"No, I wasn't! What are you even saying?!"

"You were! You were acting like a panther!"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, uh…what are they called again…?" Jerry looked lost for a moment. "A cougar, I mean!"

"You're being ridiculous, Jerry!"

"Am I, Beth?! Am I really?!"

The blonde huffed, crawled under the covers on her side of the bed, turned off the light and laid on her side, her back facing the brunet.  
For her this conversation was over.  
Jerry also laid down, but the male was still brooding. For him this conversation was far from over yet.


	4. Chapter 4: There is a reason

AN: So, after much debating whether I should make this the next chapter or not, I finally decided to just post this. Also, sorry for the long wait. I'll try to get the next update out faster (even if I can't make any promises).

Warnings: still Rick/Morty slowburn, a little angsty

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 4: There is a reason**

Morty felt, in one word, groggy this morning. After the mostly positive impression that Rick had made on his family – at least on his mother – he was able to convince Beth to spend some time with Rick outside of school again. Of course, the woman agreed to it under one condition and that being that he had to finish his homework before he would be allowed to go and see his best friend.

Since this offer was a rare opportunity – and thankfully Rick's new call divert was surprisingly working and had kept his parents from finding out that he was still skipping school – Morty had worked the entire Friday afternoon and evening to finish said task even if he would have preferred to spend the time differently with watching a movie or something similar to that. Truth be told, he had pulled an all-nighter to get his homework done, seeing that Beth had insisted on checking it and Morty was sure that she would not be satisfied if he got it wrong.

So, he was super tired and nervous right now, venturing downstairs to present his completed work to his mother. Needless to say that most of the time that he had spent on this was wasted on trying to catch up with the topics that he had missed in school thanks to being absent. He vaguely thought that he should have tried to ask Rick to come over and help him with this. After all, it was his fault that Morty was lagging behind in his classes and he was sure that his mom wouldn't have minded if he would have kindly asked in advance.

The brunet nervously cleared his throat as he watched his mother read over what he had written without showing any changes or some kind of readable emotion on her face.

"This looks okay." She finally said and smiled a little. "See, Morty. If you just put a little effort into it, you can do so well."

Morty bit back on commenting that it was more than just "a little effort".

"So, can I go see Rick now?" He asked excitedly.

"Of course. Just be back before dinner."

As he sprinted out of the parlor, he could hear his dad complaining again. "Beth! We really shouldn't let him see this hooligan again! Besides Morty is still supposed to be grounded! You can't just go and make exceptions whenever he asks! That way he's never going to learn—"

The rest was thankfully cut off as Morty closed the front door after himself. If he could avoid listening to another one of his parents' arguments, he gladly took the chance.

He practically ran all the way to Rick's garage, happy to see the other again even if he had just seen him yesterday. For some odd reason it always felt longer when they were apart though, but that was something that the brunet wasn't willing to ponder about now.

"Hey, Rick!" He greeted his friend who was like usual hunched over his workbench.

The spiky-haired boy looked up at him. "Hey, Morty. You're earlier than I expected. I thought you were supposed to finish your homework first."

"I did finish my homework." Morty replied indignantly.

"That's great, Morty." Rick replied absentmindedly, already turned back to his project again.

The brunet huffed a little at the easy dismissal of his friend, but with curiosity winning out, he joined the other at his workbench.

"You're still working on the design of your improved portal gun?"

"Nah." Rick replied as if that was ages old news. "I've put that one on ice for now and am back on the space cruiser again…"

Morty made an agreeing hum as he took in the blueprints that the other was working on. At the moment, the focus seemed to be more on the technical side than the design as Rick had only finished to draw the bottom part of the vehicle yet.

"I'm still missing a shit ton of parts, but I've got at least something to work with here." The blue haired boy commented as he finished scribbling down some last notes on the margin of the paper. "C'mon, Morty. You can help me with this."

The brunet perked up like a puppy and was eager to assist. Over the course of the next hours, the boys disassembled the car and Rick rolled on his creeper underneath it while ordering Morty to fetch him one part or another tool.  
This went on relatively smoothly until the yellow-shirted teen failed to fetch him one part that he requested.

"Look harder, Morty. It has to be on the shelf." Rick's voice was slowly filling with frustration the longer Morty failed to get him that item.

"I'm telling you that it's not here. There's all sorts of junk on your shelf, but nothing that looks like what you described me to get you." Morty fired back. "If you don't believe me, you can come over here and look for yourself."

With a sigh of annoyance Rick rolled out from under the car and stood up.

"How hard can it be to just—" The boy stopped mid-grumble as he saw that Morty hadn't lied and the needed object was indeed not where it should be.

He began to hum in thought as he tried to remember where he could have left it.

"Ah, fuck!" Rick cursed, as he finally seem to remember. "It's in my room at home…"

With a heavy sigh, he walked over to the safe that stood underneath his workbench and opened it.

While getting out a big wad of cash, he said, "C'mon, Morty. Guess we're gonna have to go shopping so I can build another one."

"Why don't you just go home and get that one? I'm sure it's not going to take as much time as building a new one, does it?" Morty asked back.

"Or, yeah, I could just do that, I guess…"

The brunet blinked at the unenthusiastic response and noticed how Rick had averted his eyes. If he wouldn't know any better, he'd say that his friend was avoiding going home.

After storing the cash in the safe again, Rick walked past the other boy and said, "You wait here, Morty. I'll make it quick."

"Can't I come with?"

"Uh, no." Rick turned to him and lifted one side of his unibrow as if questioning him. "I just told you to stay here and wait for me, didn't I?"

"Oh come on, Rick. I invited you to my home last week so don't you think it's only fair that I can come over to yours, too?"

Morty knew that he was kind of treading on thin ice here since no one was ever invited over to Rick's home or even knew where he lived. Not even his so considered besties, B.P. and Squanchy.  
However, the mystery was too intriguing for the boy to just back down now. After all, when would he get a chance like this again?

"Well, my parents don't like me inviting anyone over, so…" Rick scratched at the back of his head.

Morty was quick to reply. "Then I'll just wait outside!"

"Why can't you just wait here for me?"

"It's going to be boring waiting for you here." The brunet replied with a cute pout.

Rick looked like he still wanted to protest, struggling with words, but nothing that made sense came out. Maybe he was just imagining it, but Morty thought for a moment that he could see a slight flush on the other's cheeks.

"Fine." Rick finally give in with a loud huff. "But you're gonna have to wait outside."

"I will." Morty replied with a bright smile, happy to have won the other over.

Since Rick quickly turned around, the brunet wasn't able to see Rick's red face.

"Whatever. Let's just go." He mumbled and sighed once more listlessly.

Morty more skipped than walked next to Rick as they made their way to the genius's home for a few minutes. That was until the other rolled his eyes and told him to cut it out.  
With a slightly dampened mood, the brunet looked around to where they were going. The sight of clean apartment blocks in a slightly nicer area gave way to grey and dirt as they came to a shabbier district.

As if that wasn't enough, the sun was covered by clouds and it began to drizzle before slowly turning into a heavier rain. Both boys began to run the last few feet until they reached the door of an apartment complex.  
Morty studied the structure that looked old and in need of repair as Rick unlocked the door.

As he wanted to follow inside after his best friend blocked him.

"We agreed that you're waiting outside."

"Are you serious? It's pouring! Just let me wait inside. I'm going to stay down here. That shouldn't be a problem, right?" Morty couldn't believe that Rick would seriously let him wait outside in this rain.

The other sighed before he finally gave. "Okay. But you gotta stay down here."

"Yeah, I just said that I would, Rick."

Morty watched Rick climb the stairs till he was out of sight. With nothing better to do, his ears followed the noises of his best friend, listening to each step that he took outside of his field of vision. The sound then stopped and morphed into a shuffled walk before it stopped once again and the jangling of keys could be heard.  
Even over the noises of the rainstorm outside, Morty could hear how the door clicked open.

He was a startled as suddenly the questioning voice of a woman could be heard, which became muffled a second later as the door swung shut again. Had that been Rick's mom?  
For a moment, there was only the pitter-patter of the rain that knocked against the door as Morty continued to wait and look around the dirty hallway.

He was jerked out of his boredom as he could hear that voice again, but this time it was sounding enraged and screaming even though he still couldn't tell what she yelled. Gulping heavily, he wondered if it was Rick's mother or just another tenant next door, but he was sure that this was the same voice that he had heard before and if his ears hadn't played tricks on him then it must have come from his friend's apartment.

As he suddenly heard crashing sounds as if things were being thrown around, he became alarmed. Despite what Rick had told him, Morty's worry drove him to climb the stairs, his ears guiding him as he followed the sounds of the ruckus. At the third floor, he stopped and tried to pinpoint, which door was the right one.  
An especially loud noise coupled with the nameplate, which stated "Sanchez" above the doorbell, confirmed to Morty that he had found the right apartment.

Nervously his index finger began to hover in the direction of the bell button, knowing that Rick won't be happy if he did this, but too worried for his best friend's safety to just stand around and do nothing.  
However, before he could reach it, the door was suddenly flung open and Rick almost ran straight into him.

Probably more out of reflex than anything, the spiky haired boy pulled him down and Morty could only stare in disbelieve as an half-empty bottle flew over their heads to smash against the opposite wall, its alcoholic contents – if the smell was anything to go by – leaving a stain on said grey wall and floor.

"I've told you to wait downstairs!" Rick hissed and dragged Morty with him, his hand holding tightly onto the brunet's smaller one.

"Richard Sanchez! You get back here this instant!" The female voice bellowed after them.

As Morty turned around, he was only able to take in a glimpse of the woman. She had long, red hair and from what he could see in that brief moment, she was actually very pretty.

"I'm not done talking yet! You're a good for nothing just like your lousy father!" Morty wasn't able to make out much of the rest of what she yelled as the echoing in the hallway and the noises of their hurried footsteps obscured it.

As Rick abruptly stopped though, Morty almost face planted and threatened to fall down the rest of the stairs if it hadn't been for the strong grip of his friend. Only now did he even briefly stop to think that Rick was holding his hand and the thought made heat rise to his face.

Finally looking up, Morty registered the reason why Rick had so suddenly stopped in his descend. A man stood across from him, wearing glasses, a light blue shirt, cravat and holding a briefcase. He looked like your typical blue-collar worker.  
The brunet was able to feel the tension in the air as the two males stared at each other.

Then the man looked the other way and continued to climb up the stairs, moving past Rick as if the boy wasn't even there.

"Rick? Was that your—"

Rick didn't let him finish the whispered question as he began to pull him along again. "C'mon!"

Morty had a feeling that this man could have probably been Rick's dad. His unnaturally looking light blue hair that matched the shade of his best friend's spiky mane, certainly led him to believe that. However, seeing as the other was unwilling to talk about it, the brunet decided to drop the subject.

As they backtracked to Rick's garage again, the storm having calmed down to a light drizzle, Morty used the time to think about what had just happened.  
He always complained to his friend about how bothered he was about his parents' constant arguments and Rick had often reacted with understanding towards it or in the same way as Summer by stating that they should just get over it and divorce already. In all that time, Morty had never bothered to think that his friend could possibly be in the same position as him – if not even worse.

It made him feel like a shitty friend. He should have been able to catch onto that sooner. Now everything made sense: the ratty mattress in the garage, Rick refusing to invite people to his home or even letting anyone know where he lived, Rick's avoidance to go home and pick up that thing which's name he had already forgotten again.  
Rick really was right when he always told Morty that he was slow and he felt so stupid for it now.

By the time that the rain had completely stopped and the sun began to peek out behind the wall of clouds again, Morty decided to break the silence that hung between them.

"Hey, Rick?"

Rick hummed in acknowledgement.

"Um, first of all sorry for not listening to you…" Morty began.

"Yeah really, Morty? I told you to do one thing. Just to wait downstairs. Why can't you ever fucking listen?!" the other reprimanded.

"I was just worried about you." Morty admitted in a small voice.

He honestly had been and from the look of things not for nothing.

Rick only sighed and decided to let the subject drop again.

"Hey, Rick?" Morty started anew.

"What is it?" Rick sounded annoyed, probably hoping that the other wasn't going to plan asking about what had happened back there at his apartment.

"Why are you friends with me?"

"Huh?" The question took the spiky-haired boy by surprise.

"Why are you friends with me?" Morty repeated the question.

"You're pretty decent at following directions, I guess." Rick replied without looking at the brunet. "At least most of the time." He added as an afterthought.

"Wait! Is that it? You only see me as a _good henchman_?"

Rick sighed and looked at him again. "It's more than just that Morty."

"What is it then?"

"It's for entirely selfish reasons, Morty." Rick said and averted his eyes again.

Once more, silence accompanied them on the way back to the garage while the brunet tried to figure out what his friend had meant with that.

* * *

The teens were back to tinkering on the car and aside from Rick asking Morty to fetch him one thing or another again, there wasn't much conversation going on between them. Morty hated it, but whenever he opened his mouth to say something, he closed it a second later again.

It was very apparent to the boy that his friend didn't want to talk about his parents with him and trying to ask about what Rick had meant when he asked about their friendship would also only lead straight into a wall again because the other wasn't going to elaborate on that.  
Morty had honestly just been wondering if Rick had seen some similarities between them and therefore decided to befriend the shy brunet that no one else was interested in. Maybe he just wanted to talk about his problems with someone that would understand him because they were in the same boat.

"Hey, Morty. Get me a beer. A cold one."

Morty sighed. As much as he wanted to tell Rick no or voice how much he disliked his friend's unhealthy habit, – or wasn't it actually a coping mechanism now? – he already knew by now that it was pointless and would only end with the genius blowing up in his face and then getting the beverage himself. So, the brunet complied and plucked a can from the mini fridge before handing it to Rick who wheeled from underneath the car and sat up on his creeper.

Morty watched how Rick's long and nimble finger hooked into the lug and manipulated it as he opened the can in two fluid motions, the stupidly mundane task somehow a fascinating spectacle to watch, almost as if it was surreal. The small hissing sound of air escaping the container was like a start signal and the teen still continued to watch almost as if he was hypnotized how Rick's lips kissed the lid as he tipped the can and began to drink.

Only the satisfied belch that was followed by bits of spittle dripping down the spiky-haired boy's lower lip, which was quickly wiped away again, broke Morty out of his stupor again. That was gross!  
Probably better though because his mind had started to drift in a weird direction, as he was just about to imagine what it would be like to be a can…

"Ah. That's much better." Rick commented before he took another sip.

Morty's brows crinkled. "Can you please keep low on the beer today, Rick?"

The other almost spit out his drink. "C'mon, Morty! That's my first can today. You don't have to start acting as if you're my mom or something."

That statement made the brunet's frown deepen. After today, he really couldn't appreciate that kind of joke.

"Apropos mom, didn't yours tell you to be home before dinner? You should probably be going now." He motioned vaguely with his arm in the direction of the clock that hung on the wall.

Morty's eyes followed that motion and also examined the time. "You're right. I need to go now."

The boy was about to leave when a sudden thought struck him. "Hold on! How do you know that my mom said that to me?"

Rick looked at him with big eyes as if he was shocked by the question before he covered it up with a grin. "You told me when you got here, dummy."

"No, I didn't." Morty protested back, though he did rack his brain, trying to remember if he had said something to that degree.

"Then how else would I know about it?" Rick replied cooly and took another sip from the can.

"Rick? Did you—could—have you planted cameras and microphones in my house?"

It was out in the open now. Morty's biggest suspicion laid bare for his friend to either deny or confirm.

Again, Rick answered him with a bug-eyed stare. "What the hell, Morty? Dude, that's something that only a creepy stalker would do! What do you take me for?"

For a moment, there was only silence as Morty let the answer run slowly through his brain, going through every winding and touching every single brain cell once.  
Rick lifted the side of his eyebrow as if nonverbally asking again if Morty was really serious about this.

"Oh, okay…" The brunet finally answered and felt ashamed of himself again for making such accusations against his best friend.

Of course, Rick wouldn't do something like that. He probably really just forgot that he had told Rick that his mother wanted him back home before dinner when he got to the garage.

"See you on Monday then, Rick." He bid his goodbye in a still small voice.

"See ya, Morty." The other replied.

What Morty had completely failed to see though, was that Rick hadn't actually denied or confirmed his question…

* * *

AN: Hands in the air if you were jelly of Rick's beer can for a moment!


	5. Chapter 5: Saving or Ruining the Evening

AN: Would you look at that! It's an update! And this time it didn't took me years.  
On another note, I finally finished the basic outline for this story, so I finally have a plan where to go with this. The bad news is that my muse got hyped over a different high school AU now, so prepare that that will be a thing in the future -_-'

Warnings: Rick/Morty, a tiny bit Morty/Jessica, still slow burn (but we're getting a few moments in this one)

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 5: Saving or Ruining the Evening**

Morty closed the door of his locker and pulled his books tighter to his chest as his eyes landed on his crush.

'C'mon! Just go over there and ask her!' he mentally motivated himself.

Swallowing heavily, he slowly approached the red head, who was currently chatting with her friends, two lockers down from him. Only when he came to a stop right next to them, did they stop talking and all of the girls' attention was suddenly focused on him.

"H—" Morty quickly cleared his throat as only a squeaky rasp escaped him. "Hi, Je-Jessica."

While the other girls fixed him with a look of annoyance, Jessica put a friendly smile on her face.

"Hi, Morty." She kindly greeted back.

The brunet swallowed once more, still feeling that annoying clump in his throat. "I-I wanted to ask if you m-might want to go to the dance? I mean wis-with me?"

He laughed awkwardly at the end of the sentence, hoping that it would come across as charming or something like that…which it didn't.

Jessica retained her smile when she answered politely. "Sorry, but I'm already going with my boyfriend. Brad."

It should have been obvious that she already had a date for the upcoming school dance, so this answer shouldn't have surprised him. Still, Morty felt upset although he tried to hide it in front of his crush.

"Oh o-okay." He stuttered with a nervous smile.

Just in this moment, none other than Brad had to show up, wrapping an arm possessively around the red-haired girl.

"Hey, babe. Is this guy bothering you?" He threw a glance at Morty that could potentially kill and made the smaller boy cringe.

"It's okay, Brad. He was just asking me out to the dance, but I told him that I'm going with you." Jessica replied calmly.

"Dude, how can you even ask her something like that? Don't you see how pretty she is? You should go and play in your own league!" The taller boy bellowed.

Morty only shrunk further and wanted to stutter an apology, scared that the other might even go and beat him up now.

"Calm down, Brad. I'm sure he didn't know that I have a boyfriend." Jessica threw in.

That was actually a lie. Of course, Morty knew that even though it was sometimes hard to keep track with how often those two broke up before getting back together again.  
He still had something like hope though…but that was only meant to be crushed.

"Girl, the whole school knows that we're together. There's no chance that he didn't know."

The redhead only shrugged and let herself be steered away, her girlfriends following. Brad, who had still one arm wrapped around his girl, turned once more back to the brunet and gave him a look that promised that this conversation wasn't over yet. And it also promised pain.  
Morty didn't look forward to the continuation and mentally scolded himself for being so stupid at even attempting to ask Jessica out.

* * *

"Hey, Morty!" Rick greeted him in the classroom, sitting on his desk and looking like he had only waited for him. "What's up? Why're making that face?"

The brunet slouched into his seat, not just his face but his entire posture spelling defeat.

With a sigh at the beginning, he explained, "I asked Jessica if she would go to the dance with me. She said no. And not only that but Brad also showed up…and he's probably going to beat the shit out of me later…"

"Then I'll go to the dance with you." Rick offered in a heartbeat.

Morty did a double take, not believing that he had heard that right. "Really? You would go to the dance with **me**?"

He was honestly surprised by the offer because he had thought for sure that Rick would actually ask a girl to go with him. A few of the popular girls were in fact just waiting for Rick to ask one of them, as far as Morty had overheard them in the hallways.

Rick didn't seem to care about that at all though. "Sure, dawg! If you wanna, that is."

"Yeah! I-I mean, I'd like that, Rick." The brunet blushed at his way too exciting answer.

After the rejection, he hadn't even been sure if he wanted to attend the school dance anymore, but now he was actually looking forward to it.  
It had him in such high spirits that even the biology test that they had to face now couldn't put a damper on his good mood. Or the most likely unavoidable run-in with Brad later on…

* * *

Morty tried to fix his bow tie for the umpteenth time in front of the mirror, convinced that it was still somehow wrong.  
It was finally the evening of the school dance and his parents had been kind enough to suspend his punishment just for today – though his dad quickly changed his mind about it after hearing that he would be going together with Rick. Luckily, Beth had shut him up again and said that it's fine as long as he was back before midnight. And he was expected to be back sober – not that Morty would have a problem with that since he didn't plan to drink anything tonight. Though, he wouldn't be able to say the same thing for his best friend.

Said blue-haired boy would be here really soon to pick him up and Morty was unexplainably nervous and felt like he wasn't ready yet. So, he stood in front of the mirror in the hallway and fidget with his clothes, being in two minds about going back upstairs and re-dressing again.

He wore a dark-grey suit, a white dress shirt and a yellow bow tie and had hoped that this assembly looked somewhat good, but he only felt really self-conscious about it.

"You look fine, Morty." Summer suddenly appeared in the mirror and gave her make-up a last quick check.

She wore a dark purple sleeveless dress and had her hair tied in a bun, held up by a beautiful hair clip that perfectly matched her earrings, necklace and bracelet.

"Thanks. You look great, Summer." Morty smiled, his nerves a little eased after hearing that statement.

"I know." His sister replied cockily and hurried to the door after hearing a car honk, only shouting a quick goodbye towards the parlor where their parents were and a 'later' to him.

Her girlfriends were picking her up since they had decided to drive to the dance together. Well, Morty's own drive would also be here any moment now and gosh, why did he feel so nervous again?!  
He couldn't remember that he had even been this excited over a school dance. Then again, it was also the first time that he wouldn't go to one alone.

The sound of a revving engine alerted him that Rick was finally here.

"Mom! Dad! I'm leaving now!" He also yelled and stormed outside.

Instead of waiting on the running bike for him, Rick had dismounted it and pulled his helmet off. Morty instantly felt self-conscious again as his best friend's gaze wandered him up and down once. Though Rick's appreciative smile relieved him.

"Nice outfit, Morty. Looking real good."

"Tha-thanks. You, too, Rick." The brunet couldn't help but blush a little.

Rick actually looked amazing.  
The other teen wore a beige jacket and dress pants and a nice dark-blue button-up shirt and a white tie. Honestly, it's not what Morty would have expected, but then again, he really didn't know what exactly he thought his friend would be wearing tonight.  
The only thing that he was convinced about was that it really suited Rick and Morty wouldn't even been looking halfway as good as the other boy did if he were to wear the same thing.

"Shall we?" Rick made a little bow and handed him the helmet, finally ripping the brunet out of his state of admiration.

With a small smile and a shy blush, he accepted the offered accessory and put it on before following his friend's example and getting on the motorcycle.

* * *

The drive to school was short and uneventful. When they arrived, the parking lot was full and so was the gym hall.  
Music from the live band was blearing from the speakers and small decorations had been hung up to fit with some kind of festive theme while colorful lights illuminated the high schoolers that flocked on the dancefloor.

As soon as they entered a few people greeted Rick and the teen greeted back, even shouting at some people to get their attention.

"Hey, Gearhead!" He called out to one of the boys that stood near the punch table.

The teen, whose actual name was Garry, wasn't happy about the nickname that he was given and instantly complained about it. "My name isn't "Gearhead", Sanchez. It is really rude to give such a nickname to a person who just happens to have a slightly unusually shaped head. Besides my head doesn't even look remotely like a gear! You don't see me going around and calling you Pillhead or Dorittohair or something like that either!"

Rick ignored him, not being bothered by the kvetching at all.  
Instead, he pulled Morty closer when he spotted Jessica and talked with him in a hushed tone that was still loud enough for the brunet to hear over the loud music.

"Look, Morty! There's Jessica!"

"Yeah, I can see that, Rick." The teen replied and his face fell at the sight. "And Brad is there, too."

Indeed, the redhead was currently dancing together with her boyfriend. The sight was nothing to be excited about, though, she did look really pretty in her mint green dress.

Before he could drift off in a dreamy state of admiring while imagining what it would be like if he could be next to her now, Rick continued. "Don't worry about that, Dawg! I'll give you a chance to be with Jessica by distracting Brad."

"What?! How are you going to do that?"

Morty couldn't believe it. Would Rick really do something like that for him? If he did, he would really owe something to the blue haired boy. Though, to be fair, it wouldn't be the first time that Rick bought him some alone time with his crush.  
This was going to be the best evening of his life if that would really work out!

"Don't worry about that. Just leave it up to me."

Without elaborating further, he steered Morty over to one of the tables and told him to wait there before vanishing seemingly into thin air. Not knowing what else to do with his time, he grabbed a red paper cup and filled some of the punch in it.  
After taking a sip, he could taste something bitter mixed in with the sweetness and his face instantly scrunched up.

It was spiked! And this early in the evening already.  
With a sigh, he placed the cup on the table and decided that he wasn't really that thirsty.

Taking another look around the gym hall, he suddenly noticed that Jessica was chatting with her girlfriends now and there was no sight of Brad anymore.  
How did that happen? Where did he go?

He couldn't wonder for long as Rick suddenly returned to his side and nudged him. "C'mon, Morty! It's free rein now for you. Go over and talk to her!"

Morty had no did idea how his friend did it or what exactly he had done, but he wasn't about to let that chance go to waste. He reached the girl when her friends scattered to dance with their dates and Jessica looked around in search for her own boyfriend.

"Hey, Jessica!" He cringed a little at how shrill his voice sounded.

She turned to him, looking surprised for a moment, but smiling friendly the next second. "Hello, Morty."

"You look b-pr-gorgeous!" _Damn his stutter!_

"Thank you. You look quite good yourself." She kindly returned the compliment.

He laughed a little nervously, face turning even redder than after his little word tumble and he embarrassedly scratch the back of his head.

"Would yo—" he had to clear his throat, "D-do you want to uh…dance?"

"Well, I guess since my date left me hanging…" Her eyes roamed once more through the room. "Sure. Why not?"

Morty visibly brightened up and eagerly made his way to the dancefloor with his crush, moving a little awkwardly, but clearly having fun.

* * *

Rick walked through the halls of the school. After seeing Morty dance with Jessica, he had some fun on the dancefloor himself with someone else, but suddenly the boy was gone. So he was searching for him now.  
After all, he would be a bad date if he wouldn't look for him and people could say many things about Rick Sanchez, but not that he was a bad date.

Figuring that the boy was probably just using the toilet, he steered towards one of the restrooms when the door opened and the teen in question just came out. However, he looked anything but happy and his head as well as the neck of his shirt and jacket were wet.

"Hey, what happened, Morty?"

The brunet stared down at his feet when he answered. "Brad suddenly showed up. He saw me dancing with Jessica and didn't like it. So he beat me up and shoved my head in the toilet…"

When he finally dared to look Rick in the eyes, he looked so pitiful, one of his eyes turning a purplish color and his cheek slowly swelling up. "Can we please just go home now?"

The blue-haired boy's face hardened and he grabbed Morty's wrist. However, instead of dragging him to the exit, he urged the other teen back into the restroom again – much to the brunet's confusion.

"Take of your jacket and shirt and then wash your face, Morty." He instructed.

Despite still not understanding why he was supposed to do that, he followed Rick's directions without comment or hesitation and undressed before he went to the sink and splashed water in his face.

Rick meanwhile had taken his clothes and proceeded to dry them using the hand dryer. After he was done with that, he helped Morty with drying his face and hair off as best as he could.  
After he told Morty to put his clothes back on, he handed him a comb that he handily had in one of his jacket pocket, fixed his yellow bow tie and lastly put some perfume on him that he also carried around.

The brunet was actually surprised after all of the fussing was over and stared in the mirror.  
He looked presentable again (if you didn't count the slight bruising) and top of that, he smelled like Rick now. Actually, he had always figured that Rick would be using aftershave and not an actual perfume and the scent was an unusual one, but fitting. He needed to remember its name because it was actually really nice to be surrounded by that smell.

"C'mon, Morty." Once more, Rick grabbed his wrist – something that he honestly did more often than not – and led him back into the gym hall again.

The blue-haired teen dragged him all the way on the dancefloor just when a new and funky song started to play. It was the prefect opportunity for Rick to show off some of his cool dance moves again – like he always did at parties.

The crowd quickly noticed that and made room on the floor, cheering him on as he moved gracefully. Morty actually felt a little embarrassed even though all eyes were on Rick right now. Still, he felt exposed with everyone standing around them and froze up, not wanting to make a fool of himself by attempting to dance alongside the much cooler teen.  
Besides, he really enjoyed watching Rick like everyone else did, so he was fine with this.

However, the other seemed to have different plans as he kept making motions with his hands towards Morty, urging him to join him. Shyly the brunet shook his head, still refusing in fear of becoming the laughing stock of the school for the entire rest of the year because of this.

Rick refused to give up though, dancing closer towards him and holding out his hand.  
As Morty kept looking at his expectant face – at that exciting smile – he slowly felt his resolve waning. He looked long enough into Rick's beautiful bright ice-blue eyes that he lost himself in them as well as the feel for reality and finally grabbed the inviting hand.

Rick pulled him closer towards the middle and somehow the brunet fell easily into rhythm with him, dancing far more smoothly than he ever did before. For the entire time, he continued to look only at Rick and it felt to him like they were the only ones in the room.  
He didn't notice how the crowd around them kept cheering them both on. He couldn't even feel the pain anymore that he had thanks to Brad's beating. Everything else had just suddenly ceased to exist.

Only after the song eventually ended, did he realize where he was again. The next song that came up was a slow one and Morty tried to leave the dancefloor again, when Rick stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going, Morty?" the blue-haired teen asked.

"Wh-wha—I-I th-thought—" The brunet poorly stuttered, convinced that his friend would actually want to dance with a girl now.

Rick cut him short. "Everyone is entitled to one slow dance."

With a grin, he pulled the stunned Morty closer towards him, putting his arms around him and began swaying to the music. The brunet felt once more distressed, although it wasn't quite like before. The crowd that had gathered around them had dissolved again as couples began to dance around them, so he didn't feel the pressure of hundreds of eyes on him anymore.

Relaxing again, he went along with it, putting his own arms shyly around the other and following his lead.  
While they danced, Morty couldn't help but think about how kind Rick was tonight. Somehow, he had managed to make this school dance really enjoyable for him even after the entire fiasco with Brad.

Dreamily he looked at Rick, his cheeks dusted with a cute flush and the other teen smiled gently back at him. Only when Morty realized that he was starring, did he avert his eyes in embarrassment.  
Still, he couldn't help but think that this was actually really nice…

* * *

The evening eventually came to an end and Rick brought him back home. Thankfully, the teen didn't had too much of the spiked punch and was still sober enough to drive properly without Morty having to worry too much about them getting into an accident.

Rick stopped the motorcycle in front of the brunet's house and turned the engine off as he dismounted it. Like a gentleman, he walked Morty all the way to the door, which was almost silly since he never did that before.

When they came to a stop at the front door, the brunet turned towards him. "Thank you, Rick, for the great evening and everything. I had really fun."

It was true. For a moment, he had believed that everything was over and would be remembered as a horrible occurrence, but his genius friend had managed to turn it all around and made it into the best and most unforgettable night that Morty had ever experienced.

"Don't sweat it." Rick waved him off with a grin.

There was a brief silence between them and suddenly Rick looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself again.

"Good night, Morty." With those words, he quickly took his leave and the brunet watched him till he was out of sight before going inside.

For the rest of the night he wondered what Rick might have wanted to tell him…

* * *

AN: Kinda short chapter again, but you already know by now that consistent chapter length is not a thing for this story.


	6. Chapter 6: What a Surprise

AN: This chapter is dedicated to AwesomeMango7 because she suggested this idea :)  
Hope you like it ;)

Also: meaty_drapes on Twitter made precious fanart for this story. I'm still so excited, please take a look at it! Thank you so much again, I really love it! (twittercom slash meaty_drapes slash status slash 1107997006725668864)

Warnings: Rick/Morty, Morty/Jessica, Tricia/Rick, Jealous!Rick and still slow burn

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 6: What a Surprise**

It seemed like good fortune was for once on Morty's side after the school dance because on the next school day, he happened to overhear some fantastic news.

"So, Jessica. I heard you broke up with Brad again?"

The brunet was standing at his locker again and listened in on the conversation that his crush had with her girlfriends.

"Yeah, it's over and this time for good." Jessica confirmed that she was indeed single once more.

Morty's heart sped up a little at the information.

"So, what are you going to do now? Who are you going to date?" Another girl asked excitedly.

"Actually, I thought I would go for a boy who's completely different from the guys I dated before. You know someone who I would have not even remotely considered before." The redhead began and Morty's hopes rose with every word, feeling like she was talking about him. "You know, just someone who's really kind and gentle and…"

She stopped talking as Morty appeared before the girls, looking as awkward as last week when he had asked her if she wanted to go to the dance with him.  
The boy blushed, an embarrassed-looking smile on his face as he cleared his throat.

It was now or never! The only chance he might ever get in his entire life!

* * *

Morty dashed towards his classroom as if he was trying to aim for a new record. Luckily, he wasn't caught by one of the teachers, who would have scolded him for that.  
Completely out of breath, he came to a stop in front of his best friend, who again sat lazily on top of his desk instead in his chair.

"Wow, Morty! Are you okay?" He asked as looked the panting brunet over. "Were you chased by Brad or one of the other guys that are always bullying you? I told you that you have to stand up to them and fight and not just run off like a coward. They'll never stop if you keep doing that."

"No… It's nothing… like that…" Morty interrupted his best friend's lecture, still wheezing.

After he finally caught his breath, he continued, his voice full of excitement. "You won't believe what just happened, Rick! Jessica broke up with Brad and I asked her on a date and she actually said yes!"

The yellow-shirted boy was so happy that he felt like he was standing on top of the world.

Rick's eyes got almost impossibly wide at the news, disbelieve written all over his face before it was replaced by a not entirely genuine-looking smile, but Morty didn't notice that.

"Congrats, Morty!" He congratulated his friend. "See, I knew you would get her one day. Ju-just took her a while to see what a great catch you are."

"Yeah, but…" Morty's excitement dimmed for a moment. "…there's just one thing…"

Rick was intrigued and lifted one side of his unibrow. "What is it?"

"Jessica asked that we turn it into a double date together with her friend Tricia Lange…"

"Well, okay. Nothing wrong with that." The blue-haired teen replied, not seeing the problem.

"…and you." Morty finished slowly and flinched as if he expected the other to hit him now.

"WHAT?!" All eyes in the classroom turned to Rick, so he quickly pulled the brunet out of the room. "You can't really ask me to go on a date with Tricia!"

Of course, Morty knew that Rick would hate this suggestion. The spiky-haired teen had dated the ditzy brunette once in the past and it didn't last very long – technically like all of Rick's relationships. He also knew that Rick actually hated her. She might be pretty, but the genius student was bothered by her _attitude_.

Morty honestly didn't understand why Rick had dated her in the first place if he had such a problem with her, but he's never dared to ask him about that.

"I know, Rick, but could you please do it? Just this once? Just for one evening?" He begged his best friend.

The other male was stoic. "No, Morty. You know, I told you that I stay away from Jessica so you can have her. And I even helped you out to get her. But this is where I draw the line."

Of course, Morty knew that Rick had done so many things for him already. And he was so, so grateful for all his help and support in the past and would probably never be able to repay that. But, he really needed his help with this. Just one more time.

"Please, Rick." He whimpered, looking like a kicked puppy at the other. "I already told them that it would be okay and I bring you along. Please. Just this once. I'll never ask anything of you ever again. I swear, Rick."

Rick tried to keep a straight face, but it was hard to keep it up with how much Morty was begging him, practically ready to fall on his knees in front of him.

He sighed and ruffled with one hand through his spikes, hating what he was going to say now. "…Fine."

Hazel eyes brightened up. "Really? Oh thank you, Rick! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

"You owe me one for this though. Big time." The blunet added and turned his face, trying to hide a blush behind a façade of annoyance.

"Of course, Rick. Whatever you want. Thank you so much." The yellow-shirted teen's joy seemed unstoppable now.

He happily skipped over to his seat as the school bell rang and Rick less enthusiastically made his way to his own seat.

Just what had he gotten himself into?

'It's for Morty.' He told himself.

He would probably do anything for the other boy. Even endure one evening together with that dumb bitch…

* * *

Both boys could be seen sitting in a fancy French restaurant, one of them looking clearly more hyped about the situation than the other.  
The duo was currently waiting for their dates since Morty had reserved a table for four.

While the brunet had tried to put some effort into his outfit, putting on a yellow button-up shirt – the same one that he had worn when Rick had been invited for dinner – and a nice pair of black dress pants, his friend showed up in simple jeans and white shirt, his leather jacket hanging over the back of his chair.  
The contrast between them was almost comically.

Likewise, their attitudes were the complete opposite.  
Rick almost looked bored out of his mind, leaning back in his seat, while Morty sat stiffly and fidgeted with his fingers, looking clearly nervous. That flustered behavior was kind of cute.

However, the spiky-haired teen grew more and more annoyed with each passing minute. Morty had insisted that they should be early at the restaurant even when Rick had told him that girls are always late and they'd still have plenty of time to wait for them. So, they had been sitting here for almost half an hour, sipping on their water and red wine – because there was no way that Rick would get through this evening completely sober – and doing pretty much nothing else.

It was probably odd that they had agreed to meet at the restaurant, but the brunet was glad that Jessica made this proposal because he lacked a ride to pick her up with. There also wasn't enough space on Rick's motorbike.  
Sure, he could have called a cab, but that on the other hand would have left Rick stuck with picking up Tricia and Morty knew that his friend would have been anything but happy with that.

So, they were currently waiting for their dates – well, at least Morty was while Rick was just waiting for the night to be already over – and the brunet's nerves were frazzled. This was his one chance at actually having a date with his crush and he couldn't afford to screw this up…

"Cut that out, Morty." Rick said, sounding more annoyed than he intended as he pulled the poor napkin out of the boy's sweaty hands since Morty had started fumbling around with it. "You don't have to be so nervous. It-it'll be fine."

The blue-haired teen sighed and sank further back in his chair, grabbing his wine glass and taking another sip. Rick thought that he was probably the one that needed to calm down since he was starting to act like an asshole towards the brunet even though he didn't deserve that.

"Aw geez. S-sorry, Rick." Morty mumbled and put his hands in his lap instead, rubbing his sweaty palms against his pants. "You're right. I'm just a little nervous because it's actually my first date."

He laughed a little and it sounded as awkward as he felt right now.

"You've must been on so many dates already that this is probably normal for you. Geez, I must look like a complete dork or something right now…"

"You're not a dork, Morty. And it's okay to be nervous on a date." Rick reassured him. "Even I get still nervous on dates."

Morty looked with wide eyes at him. "You do?"

"Yeah, I've just learned to hide it better." Well, at the moment Rick was trying to hide his bad mood even though Morty should know very well what he was putting him through…no, actually the brunet could not possibly know that exactly he was putting him through. "Just don't worry so much, okay?"

Morty nodded shakily and was so grateful that the other was actually here right now and he didn't had to go through this all on his own. Who knew how much of a mental wreck he'd be if Rick weren't at his side.  
There wasn't much time to think about it though, as finally the long awaited company arrived.

"H-hi, Jessica!" The brunet immediately jumped up from his seat, greeting his crush nervously and like a gentleman, pulled out the chair for her. "Y-yo-you look great!"

"Thank you, Morty." The girl giggled, obviously flattered.

She wore a light-blue dress, which fit together with her light-blue hairband and the colors accentuated her hair and eyes. Morty was unable to pay attention to anyone else but her anymore, so he didn't really notice Rick's reaction to meeting his date.

The spiky-haired teen didn't even bother standing up from his chair as Tricia greeted him. "Hi, Rick."

"Hi…" He muttered to not be a complete ass, but also making sure to let everyone present know that he wasn't happy with this.

The brunette didn't seemed fazed by his mood and took a seat next to her friend. In comparison to the girl beside her, her outfit was very provocative, the red top showing enough cleavage that you'd be worried that her tits would jump out at any moment and her dark skirt was also short enough to not leave much to the imagination.

However, it didn't attract Rick's attention, whose eyes had drifted over to his best friend. The teen looked like he wanted to make a sarcastic remark about Morty's love-struck face, but bit his tongue to keep it to himself.

Moments later, the waiter arrived at the table, asking to take their orders.  
The entire group agreed on a bottle of red wine, safe for one.

"A scotch for me." Rick ordered.

The teen ignored his friend's stare as Morty looked at him incredulously.  
Did Rick seriously have to order something this strong? Well, Morty shouldn't really be surprised that the only way that Rick saw himself getting through this evening was by being drunk.  
However, that didn't mean that he approved of that. He just hated seeing his friend getting drunk so often. Rick really had a problem with alcohol…

Trying not to let that dampen his mood, Morty focused his attention back on his date again.

"S-so…um…" He cleared his throat, fighting hard to make light conversation.

What are you even supposed to talk about on a date? The weather? Hobbies?

"W-what are you i-in-into?" He stuttered.

Rick suddenly snorted loudly beside him. "Way to go, Morty! Good start of a conversation to ask for her kinks first."

The brunet blushed fiercely. "W-what are y-you saying, Rick! I-I-I didn't mean—I w-was just a-asking about J-Jessica's hobbies!"

He realized that he probably formulated that sentence poorly, but the redhead surely understood how he had meant it. Utterly embarrassed, he looked over to his crush, hoping that she hadn't misunderstood him.

Damnit! Why did Rick have to do something like that?  
Sure, blame it on the alcohol, but his friend was supposed to support him here and not act like a complete asshole.

Tricia was the one who picked up the conversation. "Oh, I know a few things that you're into, Rick."

The way she talked sounded like she was really just trying to make casual conversation and not like she was flirting with him, but from Rick's glare it might as well have been all the same. "Well, I know for sure **who** I am into and **who** I am **not** into!"

Oh god! It was just getting worse!  
Panicking, Morty tried to steer the conversation to a safer topic again.

"Uh…so…any TV shows that you're interested in right now, Jessica?" It was probably not the best, but something that the boy figured they could work with. "I-I've just started w-watching Steven Universe. It's pretty g-good."

"Oh. Steven Universe was that cartoon show, right?" Jessica asked.

Clearly, she had heard of it, but never watched it. That sucked. It would have been a good topic to talk about.

"Guess she's too good to be watching cartoons…" Rick muttered not exactly quietly. "…probably more a fan of _The Bachelor_ or some other stupid reality TV show…"

"Rick!" The brunet hissed loudly.

Just why was he in such a mood right now?

Again, the brunette from the other side of the table had to add to the conversation. "Oh, did you guys watch last night's episode. I didn't expect him to give a rose to Veronica…"

"Not surprised that you'd watch shit like that." Rick only commented lowly.

Despair was written on Morty's face but he sighed in relieve as finally the food was served. Hopefully, the conversation would be limited to a minimum while they were all busy eating.

"Another scotch, please." The blue-haired teen ordered before the waiter left. "Actually, make it double."

"Rick, I think you-you already had enough to drink." Morty wearily eyed his friend's empty glass.

" _Thanks Morty_ , but **I** decide when I had enough. And I didn't have nearly enough tonight."

The brunet looked angry, but when Rick was like that, arguing with him was pointless. In Morty's opinion, the other had had more than enough already, but apparently, nothing was stopping Rick right now.  
So, forced to give up, the boy turned to his food, only nervously glancing up at Jessica, who thankfully seemed to be still in a good mood.

It was mostly silent while the four occupants at the table ate their food, the entire atmosphere kind of awkward or at least it felt like that for Morty.

"Th-this…food is really…um…good." Again, he tried to go for some light conversation even though he feared that he might regret it – and he honestly had no idea what he had ordered or what the stuff on his plate even was supposed to be. "How's you-yours, Jessica?"

"Oh, it's fine. Thanks." The redhead smiled lightly while digging with her fork around in her salad.

Morty smiled encouragingly back. "Tha-that's good."

"I'm actually surprised that you've ordered that, Morty." Rick threw in. "Didn't knew you would really eat calf's brain."

Face morphing into a grimace, Morty felt his appetite gone from one moment to the other and slowly laid his cutlery down. He wiped his mouth with the napkin, hoping to play it off as being sated by the little that he had eaten already.

"Man, I-I'm really full."

His best friend broke out in loud laughter, drawing the attention of the other patrons on them. Morty's slightly paled faced was heating up and he tried to make himself as small as he possibly could.  
God, this was so embarrassing already and Rick didn't make the whole thing any better!

Shyly, he dared to glance over to Jessica to gauge her reaction. Her smile looked a bit strained as she looked over at Rick. However, when their eyes met, it was replace by a soft and far more sincere-looking one.  
Again, Morty smiled back, glad that he hadn't completed screwed it yet and also a little surprised that she hasn't left already, but was still willing to stay and put up with all of this.

"Hmm…this food tastes kind of weird." Of course, Tricia had to comment on her own meal, too, after the blunet had stopped laughing.

Morty looked over at how she picked at the meat on her plate and thought, 'At least it's not calf's brain.'

Further conversation ceased since Rick didn't bother to comment on his own dish – or grace the brunette with a reply – and everyone continued to eat in silence until they eventually finished.  
Dessert was ordered shortly afterwards and the spiky-haired boy ordered more to drink, which earned him another disapproving glare from Morty that was blatantly ignored.

…or maybe not. "Don't look at me like that, Morty. The guy who claims that he's full after eating three bites and then orders a fucking cake for dessert should really have no right to judge."

Morty was gaping, the reply that those two things were completely different sitting on his tongue. However, he wasn't given a chance for an argument to break out.

"Hey, Morty. Would you mind if we talked for a little moment? I mean, alone?" Jessica whispered loudly.

Cold sweat broke out, but the brunet answered in his stuttering voice, "S-su-sure, Jessica!" and hastily got up from his seat.

He followed the redhead away from the table to a slightly more secluded corner of the restaurant and feared for the worse. Would she tell him now that she hated this evening and would never want to go on a date with him ever again? Would she say that she didn't want Morty to talk to her ever again?  
Sure, she could have said those things to him at the table, too, but maybe she was just trying to be polite about it and didn't want to say it in front of the others.

"Morty, this is a really nice restaurant and you're a really nice guy, but…" She smiled as if she tried to lessen the blow, but Morty knew that it was coming now. "…this double date was probably a bad idea. I'm really sorry that I've been asking you to bring Rick along, but Tricia really wanted this and I should have known that after their history, it wouldn't turn out well. So, sorry for making that mistake and kind of ruining this evening for us."

Hold on! Jessica was apologizing?! Morty couldn't believe his ears.

He blushed and rubbed the back of his head as he laughed his cute little Morty-laugh. "Ha ha! It's not your fault, Jessica. Don't worry about it. I probably should have said something first because I also knew that Rick wouldn't like this and act out…"

Neither of the two noticed that they were being watched the whole time. Blue eyes peered right through the aquarium that stood between them and their table and Rick looked anything but pleased as he watch his friend blushing and the two laugh.

"Say, Rick. Are you actually dating someone right now? I mean, I noticed that you broke up with Patricia last month, but I haven't seen you with anyone else. You're only hanging out with Morty all the time…" Tricia felt the need for conversation and began to pry.

Rick ignored her babbling, having no intention to answer her, but when the duo returned, looking really happy and laughing together, he began to snap. "I've really had it with you! First off, it's none of your business who I'm dating right now. And secondly, I have zero interest in getting back together with you if that's what all of this about! And it clearly is!"

To emphasize his point, he slammed the now empty scotch glass on the table, hard enough for it to crack.

Morty's eyes widened in shock. If Rick was this drunk, he became dangerous. Less because he was turning violent, but rather because he turned completely unpredictable.

His date also seemed to notice that the spiky-haired teen was getting too much out of hand now. "I think it might be better if we leave now, Tricia."

The girl thankfully got the cue and both quickly grabbed their things.

"It was a really nice evening, Morty…despite this." She looked pointedly at Rick, who sat slouched in his chair and could clearly give less fucks about the fact that the girls were going to leave now. "Maybe we can repeat this another time, but just with the two of us?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that would be great, Jessica." Morty smiled at the offer and waved after her as the redhead and her friend left the restaurant.

He told the waiter, who walked past him, that he wanted to pay before he sat down in his seat again. Everything was silent between the boys for a moment.  
While Morty should be elated that Jessica wasn't angry at him and was even willing to give him another chance, he was still upset that this evening had been ruined like this.

"Trust me, it's better that they're gone." Rick broke the silence.

The brunet didn't answer him. Around a minute later, the waiter showed up with the bill and Morty gulped nervously, not having expected it to be **that** expensive.

While he fumbled with the bank notes in his wallet, Rick suddenly slammed a wad of cash on the table. "Don't swat it. I'll pay for everything. It's the least I can do."

'The least…?!' Morty didn't even know what to say anymore.

His best friend had ruined this entire date instead of being supportive and backing him up and he thought, it would be all good again if he paid?! He was so angry right now. And even more he was hurt that Rick had betrayed him like this – because that's exactly what it was in Morty's eyes.

They grabbed their things and also exited the establishment, the night air outside a little chilly.

"C'mon, Morty. I-I'll drive you home." Rick offered, not even trying to hide that light slur in his speech.

This was the last straw for the brunet and he whipped around, shouting angrily. "I will **walk** home, Rick! How can you even expect me to want to drive home with you when you're this drunk?! You-you-you're such an alcoholic asshole, who doesn't really care about anyone, but yourself! And your mom was right when she said that you're a good for nothing!"

The moment those last words left his mouth, he instantly regretted it. That was a low blow and he knew that he went too far with that.  
Rick's shocked gaze was more than enough proof right now.  
Still, he felt too angry to apologize for it and instead turned around to walk off.

He didn't turn around again or added anything to it and Rick didn't try to stop him either.

The spiky-haired teen only watched after his retreating friend, shock from the harsh words that had been thrown at him still written on his face.

"FUCK!" As soon as Morty was out of hearing range, he yelled and kicked a trashcan hard enough to leave a noticeable dent in it. "Stupid Jessica!"

* * *

While Morty was on his long way home, his head slowly cooled down again and he began to reflect on the evening and his own reaction towards Rick.  
Thinking about it at all made him realized that this whole situation was no one's but his own fault. He shouldn't even be angry at Rick for being himself.

This outcome should have been obvious to him right from the start. Even Jessica realized that it had been a stupid idea to force Rick on a date with Tricia.  
It was bound to blow up, so the only person he should actually be upset with right now is himself.

Morty decided that he would apologize to Rick tomorrow at school.


	7. Chapter 7: The Moment that changed every

AN: This is probably the chapter that you've been all waiting for…or maybe it's not.

Warnings: Rick/Morty, angst, also a little violence

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 7: The Moment that changed everything**

His steps were heavy and his posture slouching as Morty was on his way to school the next day. He sighed, still feeling upset about the ruined date. Or, more about his outburst afterwards.  
He still had been thinking about everything that happened after he had arrived home and rolled around in his bed, barely getting a wink of sleep last night. Yet, he wanted to apologize to his best friend in person and not just over a text message.  
He still felt stupid for dragging the other teen on that double date even though the other had made it clear that he wasn't up for it in the first place.

While it still was Rick's fault that it all turned to shit, he really shouldn't have yelled at his best friend like that, saying all those nasty things to him.  
Rick had helped him out so often already that it wasn't nice to make such accusations.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait until third period since there were a few classes that they didn't have together. Honestly, he hoped that Rick would even show up today after everything that had happened and that he would actually listen to him…

* * *

"M-Mo-Moorghty! Th-there you are!"

The brunet had just grabbed his textbook from the locker and was about to go to the classroom, mentally preparing himself to face Rick when he was intercepted by the teen in question.

"Rick!" Morty jumped almost ten feet in the air when the spiky-haired boy suddenly blocked his path.

Looking intently at the other's face, his features turned into a frown. "Are you drunk?!"

While it wasn't unusual for the other to get drunk, he was usually always sober when showing up at school. Did he take last evening so hard that he got drunk again?  
…or was he still drunk?

"Morty! M-Morty! We have to talk, Morty!" Rick rambled, swaying a little unsteadily on his feet. "It's-it's important, Morty!"

The brunet only sighed. "You're right. I wanted to talk to you, too, but not here."

Looking around the hall, which was flooded with students, he steered his drunk friend to the boys' restroom. This was going to be a rather personal talk and he didn't want weird rumors to spread because someone overheard something and took it out of context or something like that.  
There was going to be enough stuff that would be passed around already after Jessica and Tricia talked to their friends about yesterday's catastrophe.

After closing the door behind himself, he quickly checked the stalls and was relieved to find them all empty.

The brunet sighed once more and finally began to talk. "Listen, Rick. About yesterday…I just wanted to—"

"I-I know, Morty. You're still p-pissed at me for that, but-but hear me out first." Rick interrupted him.

Blinking in confusion, Morty let him continue even though he just had wanted to apologize to him. His curiosity won out, wanting to know what the other had to say now.

"I-I-I know that you lo-like Jessica, but-but that bitch doesn't deserve you, Morty."

Hearing that, Morty felt anger well up inside him again. How could Rick say something mean like that – how dare he call Jessica a _bitch_?!

He was about to protest, but Rick continued, walking up and down while gesturing wildly with his hands. "She-she's just playing you, Morty. I heard her talk about you o-once and she said that you-you're a weirdo and stupid. She's l-leading you on be-because she knows that you'll follow her like a—like a loyal puppy, no matter what. She-she doesn't really care about you, Morty. But-but I do. So what I did yes-yesterday—what I—I only did that to p-protect you, Morty!"

The emotions inside Morty quickly changed from anger to surprise and he stared wide-eyed at his friend. That's why Rick had actually acted like an asshole? Because of Jessica?

'So it actually had nothing to do with Tricia Lange?!'

"You see, I-I just don't want you to be miserable because of that dumb bitch." Rick explained himself further, looking intently at the brunet's face and coming closer. "'Cause you-you deserve someone better, Morty…"

"R-Rick?" Morty was confused as the other came closer and closer, his breath that smelled heavily of whisky, washing over his face.

His eyes popped almost out of his head, as lips suddenly pressed against his and Morty felt himself unable to do anything in his shock. He could only feel his heart hammering wildly against his ribcage and the soft pressure.  
As quickly as the contact came it was gone again since Rick pulled away.

"I-I'm sorry, Morty." Honesty shone in Rick's eyes as he said that and he suddenly looked a lot soberer than before.

Then the blue-haired teen dashed out of the restroom, leaving Morty behind, still stunned and confused.

Perplexed, Morty slowly rose a shaky hand to his mouth, wondering what had just happened.  
He wanted to think that this was just a joke, but…but Rick had apologized. Rick never apologized!

Did that mean that Rick actually liked him _like this_?

'I…I know that I like Jessica…' Morty began to think, trying to analyze his own feelings slowly. '…but I also like being around Rick…he-he always makes me feel special…'

Shyly he touched his lips with a finger. '…and I also liked how it felt when he kissed me… Does that…could that mean that I like Rick in the same way…?'

Morty still wasn't entirely sure, but he knew that he needed to see Rick and talk to him about this.

* * *

Talking to Rick was easier said than done. He didn't show up for the next period, the seat next to Morty, where he usually sat, was empty. Though, that shouldn't have surprised the boy as much as it did. Rick probably had planned to skip school again anyway.

Since he bailed without dragging Morty with him today, this would have been the brunet's chance to finally attend all of his classes for one day…however, Morty decided to risk getting in trouble and left the school after third period was over.

Immediately, he made his way to Rick's garage, figuring that his best friend went there again. If he wasn't on an errand run, it seemed like you could always find Rick at his _second home_.

However, as soon as he arrived, he saw that the garage door was down. Rick liked to have the door open when he worked, letting in fresh air and natural light as long as there wasn't a storm outside.

The brunet knocked on the metal door. "Rick? Rick, are you there? It's me. Please let me in?"

He waited for a while, but there was no reaction. Either his friend wasn't here or he was ignoring him.  
Not being able to completely rule out the second possibility, Morty went over to the lock pad.

Rick had entrusted the combination to Morty, saying that was more useful like this if he needed to send the brunet to fetch something for him. However, he also had said that when Morty needed to hide out somewhere, he also could always come to the garage.

Seeing that he actually trusted Morty to come near his precious inventions even in the case that he would not be around was actually a huge sign of trust from Rick…which was incredibly rare for the stoic teen.

Trying not to think how it was another thing that Rick did and which made him feel so special, Morty put in the code. However, when he hit enter, the display showed the message "Access denied".

With furled brows, the boy entered the combination again, sure that he had actually gotten it correct the first time. Again, the same words mocked him and the door remained closed.

This could only mean that Rick must have changed the password.  
Morty could only sigh and give up now. When Rick wanted to have his space then he had to accept that…not that he could actually do anything about it.

So, he left again, only hoping that Rick would eventually show up at school again…

* * *

The following days were very lonely for Morty. Rick didn't show up at school – not even for the tests as he used to do – and the brunet was so alone, having lost the only friend that he actually had.

It should have been a good thing that he actually was able to attend his classes regularly again without a certain someone dragging him out of the building before noon. However, this also rose a new problem for him…

"Hey, Smith!" Roughly, he was shoved into the lockers.

Morty looked up at the tall and buff redhead that was towering over him. "H-hi, Dustin."

"Not so tough anymore now that you're _bodyguard_ isn't here, huh?" The bully teased. "Where's that punk, Rick, anyway? Too much of a pussy to show up at school anymore?"

His new problem was that he was getting into more trouble with his bullies again. Actually even more than before the time that he had become friends with Rick because they felt the need to pay him back with interest now for skipping out on these _punishments_ for such a long time.

"I-I don't know wh-where he is…" Morty replied, covering slightly.

The other only grinned, knowing pretty well that no matter where Rick was right now, he wasn't here to come to the brunet's rescue.  
So, the next moment Dustin's fist connected with his cheek.

Even though the blow was expected, it didn't make the impact hurt any less.  
All he could do now was curl up and endure it.

Even though Rick always kept telling him that he needed to stand up to his bullies if he ever wanted them to stop treating him like this, he still lacked the courage to do so.  
What could he do anyway? He was so much smaller and weaker than Dustin and the other school bullies. And who would be impressed if he tried to talk back in his stuttering and squeaky voice?  
Morty would only embarrass himself further if he tried and he would probably only get harassed more.

'Rick isn't any taller than me though. And he also stutters…' The brunet thought abjectly as blows and kicks rained upon him. '…yet, the bullies are too afraid to mess with him…'

It was one of those odd things that never quite made sense to Morty. Yet he knew that Rick was no pushover and that was probably why everyone thought twice about starting a fight with him.  
Honestly, the only one who even dared was…

'…aren't I the only one who ever picks arguments with him?'

Sure, Morty wasn't stupid enough to try to anger Rick when he was already on the verge of blowing up, but he realized that he hardly backed down when he wanted to get his point across to the other teen – even if it often didn't make much of a difference.  
Like all the discussions about Rick's obvious alcohol problem and Morty's clear disapproval of it.

However, there were other times when Morty argued with Rick about certain things and the other teen was actually the one, who gave in to him. He had never really thought about that, but now it made him wonder where he ever took the courage to do that.

'It's probably because we're friends…' he tried to reason, still cowering against the row of lockers.

However, it didn't feel like it was really that.  
Wasn't it actually because the other was pushing so much until Morty decided to draw a line and fight back?  
…Well, how couldn't he? Rick always knew how to push his buttons and sometimes he thought that the other was doing it even on purpose.

If he would just feel like that when faced with his other bullies, like Dustin right now.

'..but he isn't Rick.' Somehow, that seemed to make all the difference.

A sob escaped him that had nothing to do with the physical pain.  
Rick was the only bully in his life that he knew how to handle. And he just wished that he would come back.  
He would even let the other beat him up like this and if that's what it would take…

* * *

When Morty arrived at home, he slowly made his way up the stairs and straight to his room. His body still ached from today's beatings and one of his eyes was swelling up. He knew that he should probably put some ice on it if he wanted to be able to look through it tomorrow, but he just didn't feel bothered enough to go to the kitchen right now.

So instead, he let his backpack dropped at the door as soon as he entered his room and plopped down on his bed. His hand almost automatically pulled out his mobile and he began to write a text message.

 _"plz respond"_ , was all that he wrote.

He hit 'send' and hoped that Rick would read it.  
With a sigh, he put the mobile phone away again and buried his face in the pillow, ignoring the uncomfortable pressure that the action put on his bruises.

It had been over a week now and he hadn't seen or heard anything from Rick ever since.  
Morty was trying to call and texting him daily, but Rick had never answered or bothered to reply to his messages. He knew that he was probably being annoying with how many texts he had sent, but the brunet just couldn't help it.

There was no other way for him to reach the spiky-haired teen because he still hadn't showed up at school. Morty had even skipped the last period yesterday to check out the garage again, but the door was still closed and his knocking and begging for Rick to open had fallen on deaf ears again.

His current life felt like hell right now – and not entirely because of the bullies at school. Honestly, Morty couldn't even imagine how he had been able to live like this before he had met Rick. How he had endured this sad and boring life before the other forced his way inside it and dragged him around for exciting small adventures or science projects.

Aside from all of this, it probably wasn't helping him much that he still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the other teen.  
However, what he was absolutely sure about was that he was missing Rick.

Morty lifted his head, taking in a deep and much needed breathe before he rolled on his side. His hand clutched at his stained t-shirt, right at his chest – above his heart.  
The pain that he currently felt there had nothing to do with the bully-inflicted bruises. He was just missing Rick so. So much that it was physically hurting him.

Unbidden, tears welled up in his eyes, running down his cheeks to be soaked up by his pillow.

He kept crying until he eventually fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8: I didn't mean it

AN: My apologies to everyone who couldn't sleep peacefully after where the last chapter ended. Hopefully, this chapter will make it all better for you…

Warnings: Rick/Morty, slight angst

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 8: I didn't mean it**

Two weeks. It had been two more weeks and Morty still hasn't seen or heard of Rick again. The other teen still didn't show up at school for the tests like he used to. He didn't show up for anything.

Morty couldn't help but wonder if Rick had finished building his spaceship and left earth without him…but what about "Rick and Morty forever and 100 years" then?  
Would he really just abandon him here like that and start an entire new life out there? Never looking back as if everything between them had never happened? As if his entire life on earth never existed?  
…As if Morty never existed?

The long absence made the brunet go slowly crazy. Not only insane with worry, but getting straight whack in the head.  
At this point, he actually started to wonder if Rick had ever been real and not just a figment of his imagination. After all, the strange inventions and just the entire story surrounding the other started to sound so ridiculous that it actually sounded more believable to think that Rick was no more than the imaginary friend that poor, lonely and bullied Morty had thought up to comfort himself. It just felt all so strange…

However, he knew that it wasn't the case and that Rick was very much a real and existing human when he overheard none other than Brandon and Sammy talking about him in the hallway at school.

"…and I agree, Rick has been acting rather strange lately." B.P. mentioned in his usual monotone voice.

Normally, Morty wouldn't have the nerve to budge into anyone's conversation – even if he kind of knew Rick's friends, they didn't really hung out much unless Rick was there, too. However, he was so worried and intrigued that he quickly approached the two talking teens.

"Ha-have you seen or talked to Rick?!" He shrunk a little back as he noticed that he was probably a bit too loud – and also rude for just walking up like that.

Two pairs of eyes turned to him in surprise.

"Hey, did something squanch between you and Rick?" Squanchy asked back, clearly curious now and hoping to get an answer for their friend's strange behavior.

Morty nervously played with the hem of his shirt. "…kind of…"

Honestly, he wasn't sure if it would be okay to mention the kiss to them.

"I-I've tried to check Rick's workshop, but he changed the password for the lock." He continued. "And I've also tried calling him, but he doesn't answer. He also doesn't respond to any of my texts…and I-I'm actually too scared of his parents to check if he might have gone home…"

Only when he noticed the others' shocked faces, did he realize that he just told them that he knew where Rick's parents lived – something that not even Rick's closest friends knew about.  
He worried his lower lip as the two looked at each other in disbelieve and hoped that telling wouldn't get him in trouble with Rick or his friends now.

Brandon turned back to him and thankfully didn't address this as he told him calmly, "Rick has been residing in the garage the entire time. Morty, you should go there. He will open for you this time."

Morty actually doubted that Rick would just miraculously do that, but then again, he wanted to trust the taller teen and figured that he might have planned something.

"O-okay. I-I will go right now."

* * *

True to his word, Morty skipped school and went straight to the garage park.  
He still had some doubts when he knocked on the garage door. However, this time it opened.

Rick looked at him in surprise and the brunet realized that he was probably expecting B.P. or he wouldn't have opened it to begin with.

"Oh." That was all that the blue-haired teen said in greeting.

Morty almost expected that he would shut the door in his face again or tell him to leave. Instead, he just turned around and took a seat at his workbench again, his actions the closest to an invitation that the brunet was probably going to get from him.

While Rick continued to tinker on something that looked like it might be a component for the space car, Morty let his eyes wander around the garage.  
The other teen seemed to have been working very intently on the vehicle over the past several weeks that he had been absent. It certainly looked quite different from the last time that Morty had laid eyes on it.

Another thing that he also noticed where the many empty cans and food wrapper that were littering the floor. It made the boy wonder if Brandon had brought Rick food while he had locked himself up in here.

Without stepping any closer, Morty cleared his throat. He had been waiting all this time to talk to the other about what had happened.  
It was now or never.

"Rick, I-I've wanted to talk to you. I wanted to talk about the ki—"

"Yeah, yeah. _That_." Rick interrupted him without turning to face him. "Just forget about it, Morty. It was a mistake. You-you know that I was drunk and you also know how drunks act sometimes. I-I didn't mean anything by it."

He played the whole event down as if it was nothing while he continued to work on the mechanical part. "Hey, Morty. Hand me a screwdriver."

A few seconds passed and when only silence greeted him, Rick finally turned around. His face quickly turned into an expression of shock as he was horrified to see that Morty was standing there and silently crying.

When a sob wrecked the brunet's body, he suddenly bolted.

"Morty! Wait!" Rick was quick to jump up from his swivel chair and dash after him.

Being the faster of the two, he quickly caught the other boy and turned him around to face him. However, Morty lowered his head so that Rick wouldn't be able to see his crying face.

The spiky-haired teen put his hands on the other's wet cheeks and lifted his head, but Morty still avoided looking at him by squeezing his eyes shut tightly. He just couldn't face Rick right now.

Slightly callous fingers wiped the tears gently away only for them to be replaced with new ones.

"I'm-m such an idiot…" The brunet sobbed. "…because—because I ho-honestly thought that it act-that it actually meant something…"

The other teen sighed. "No, Morty. I'm the idiot this time…"

"Huh?" In surprise, the brunet finally looked at him.

He could clearly see regret on Rick's face. "Morty, I'm sorry that I lied about it. I shouldn't have said that because it **did** mean something to me. Actually it meant a lot to me."

Then he kissed Morty. Softly and briefly. Just a small peck.  
When he pulled back though, the brunet was the one who leaned forward and kissed him again. This time it was longer, but still innocent – just a closed-mouthed kiss.

When they separated once more, Rick led him back inside the garage again. Even if the place was practically deserted at this hour, they really shouldn't just stand around out there, talking or kissing. It surely would look odd and frankly, it was no one's business.

"So…" Morty began, still feeling a bit awkward about the entire situation. "Does…does this mean that you like me, Rick?"

Even if they just kissed, he needed some verbal confirmation for what the deal between them was now. Hopefully, the other teen would start talking honestly with him about this.

Rick stepped back over to his workbench again, but looked at the brunet. "Yes, it does mean that I like you, Morty… even if it's for selfish reasons."

This again!

"What do you mean with that?" His brows furled and he hoped that Rick would elaborate on it.

However, the spiky-haired teen only shrugged and turned around to look at his unfinished gadget again. "Just means that I'm an egotistical bastard."

That response was less than satisfying and the brunet still didn't understand, but the other's behavior made it obvious that questioning him more wouldn't get him any better results.  
So instead, he decided to overlook this and continue with the previous topic.

"You know…after you kissed me—in the restroom I mean, I've been actually thinking a lot about it and about my feelings." The blue-haired teen's attention was on Morty again. "And I finally realized that I actually like you, too."

He smiled shyly at the other, who also smiled back at him. It felt good to say it aloud.

"Also, I think, I'm pretty stupid for not noticing it sooner…" He added with a blush.

"Sometimes, you really **are** slow, Morty." Rick agreed, but there was no malice behind his words. "…but I guess, I should have told you sooner. Stupid of me to think that you would get a hint…"

The brunet pouted. It hadn't been that obvious to him at the time…but the more he thought about some of those moments between them, the more he couldn't deny that the genius teen was right.

"Um…so, does that mean that we're dating now?" Morty asked tentatively.

"Sure. If you want that."

The smile on the brunet's face was so broad that it was actually painful. "I would love that."

His insides felt so warm and there was a fluttering sensation in the pit of his stomach and Morty just felt so happy right now that he wanted to hug the entire world…or at least Rick. Giving in to the urge, he crossed the short distance between them and wrapped his arms around the other boy.  
For a short moment, he almost feared that Rick would tell him off or something, but thankfully, the hug was returned.

He almost began to purr when a hand rubbed gently over his back and the painful memories of these past weeks were slowly fading, Morty's frazzled nerves soothed and his slowly collapsing mind mended again. All in the matter of just a few seconds and through such a simple gesture.

It was so comfortable that he could have fallen asleep just then and there if Rick's voice wouldn't have suddenly brought him back to reality. "Hey, Morty? You wanna help me finish building this?"

The yellow-shirted teen drew back a bit and looked at the unfinished device on the workbench.

"Sure." They separated and Rick took a seat in his swivel chair again, while Morty looked the mechanical part more closely now. "What is it supposed to be?"

"Just part of the motor." The genius teen explained simply.

While it didn't look like a component that you would find normally in a car, Morty didn't question it. After all, it was supposed to be a space cruiser and not a regular automobile that would drive on earth's streets.

Over the course of the next hours, they tinkered together on it, Rick explaining a few things here and there whenever Morty asked, while the brunet handed him whatever tool he currently needed.

To Morty it felt like it had been forever since they've done this and god, how had he missed it!  
Happily, he assisted the other teen, just glad that he could be in his presence again.

While they continued to work together, Morty began to think about the new situation.  
They were dating now! That meant that he had finally a boyfriend! Rick was his boyfriend…

The initial joy was slightly dimmed as he actually thought about Rick's previous relationships. He was known for dating girls for a few weeks and having sex with them before he dumped them again.  
Would he also…?

"Morty? What's wrong?"

"Huh?" The brunet seemed a little disoriented as he was suddenly ripped out of his thoughts.

"I asked you to hand me the soldering iron, but you were spacing out. Is something the matter?"

"No, not really…" Morty picked up the requested tool and handed it to the other boy. "…I was just wondering…are you…? Is our relationship going to be like your other ones?"

The young scientist's eyes widened. "Morty, no! It's not…!"

He sighed and took a moment to find the right words.

"Morty, listen. All of the girls and the few boys that I had been with weren't really all that great and I usually figured that out really quickly after dating them for a few weeks. So that's why I was always so quick to break up with them again, too." He looked deeply into the brunet's eyes and Morty was sure that his words were sincere. "But you are different from that, Morty. I mean, we've been hanging out for a long time already and know each other pretty well. So please believe me when I tell you that it's not the same with you."

Rick was right about that. They had been friends for quite a while already and they've both got to see the best and the worst of each other, so they knew what they were dealing with here.

"Okay, Rick. I get it. And I believe you." After nodding in confirmation, a smile was on his face again and he felt like a weight had been lifted from him.

The blue-haired teen returned the smile. "Oh, and just so you know, I'm going to take this slow with you. So don't think that I'm going to jump you right now or anything."

That was actually unusual of Rick and it honestly surprised the brunet.

"What? Why not?" No that he wasn't feeling a little relieved to know that the other wasn't going to try anything pretty soon, but he was curious to know why.

"Because I know that you aren't ready for that yet." The spiky-haired teen's expression turned smug. "I would destroy you, Morty."

Sadly, poor Morty didn't quite understand that explanation. "What do you mean with that?"

"You'll see later when we're actually going to do it." The accompanying wink didn't fail to make the brunet blush.

They focused back on Rick's project then, but Morty couldn't deny that he felt elevated now that they had cleared this up.  
He decided that he would believe Rick. After all, he had always been treating him differently than everyone else, so he was convinced that he would stay true to his word and treat their relationship differently as well.

* * *

It was almost funny how fast things returned back to normal. Rick was attending school again – at least as long as they had a test – and dragging Morty off otherwise. The only difference was that the brunet wasn't complaining about skipping as much anymore and that Rick didn't just grab him by the wrist when he was pulling him along, but taking his hand. Also, there were the occasional exchange of small kisses. Usually as a greeting or as a goodbye, but also sometimes just in-between.  
In short, things were pretty great even if Morty's grades and record of attendance were paying the price again.

However, while they were officially dating now, they hadn't really told anyone about it yet or attempted to shout it from the rooftops.  
That was most likely also the reason why Jessica suddenly showed up at Morty's locker when he grabbed his textbook and ignored the blue-haired teen, who stood right next to him.

"Hey, Morty!"

The brunet was surprised that she suddenly spoke to him because even though they had agreed to go on another date again, they didn't had any contact these past weeks, safe for being in the same classroom at times.

"Oh! H-hey, Jessica." He greeted back, his stutter not as bad as it usually had been around the redhead.

Rick looked anything but pleased about her showing up, but Jessica still ignored that and smiled at Morty. "I'm glad that you seem to be okay again. You've looked really upset these last days and I didn't want to bother you…"

"Oh, yeah. I had a bit of a…rough time…" Sheepishly, he rubbed one of his arms, noticing from the corner of his eye how his boyfriend gave him a startled and worried glance.

"So, yeah. I was thinking now that you seem fine again, you might want to hit me up on that offer and go on a date with me? _Just the two of us_."

"A-actually…" Rick's angry glare at Jessica was almost feasible as he nervously tried to explain to her why he had to decline. "I know tha-that we agreed on this, but I-I can't…"

"Why not?" The redhead was as oblivious as ever.

"Be-because I'm already with…someone…"

This took the girl by surprise. "Oh! Really? I wasn't expecting that. But that's cool, I guess…?"

Before the conversation could go any further, Rick suddenly wrapped an arm protectively around Morty's shoulder.

"Yeah, he's together with me now, so don't bother him ever again!"

"Oh, _oh_ …" Jessica turned wide-eyed, even more surprised about that reveal. "Yeah…I'll just go then…"

Slowly she left and Morty felt really embarrassed about his boyfriend just throwing this at his long-term crush.

Noticing the brunet's sudden abash behavior, Rick began to question him. "What? Are you ashamed about our relationship? ...or about me?"

"NO!" Morty couldn't believe that Rick would actually think that. "I just…hadn't planned to c-come out of the cl-closet like this…"

Well, it was out now and he had no doubt that Jessica would spread the word around school. There would be a lot of gossip and broken hearts if people found out that Rick was dating the all-time loser Morty, but hopefully, he would be able to handle it.

"Hey, don't worry. If someone gives you shit about this, just tell me and I'll beat the crap out of them." A small peck sealed the promise.

Morty smiled. As long as Rick was here, he shouldn't worry about rumors or anything like that. And that the spiky-haired teen seemed to quickly go into protective boyfriend mode now, was really flattering and charming.  
So confidently, he took Rick's hand in his and together they walked to their next class…


	9. Chapter 9: A new learning experience

AN: Finally, a (long-awaited) new chapter for this story. Luckily, I had most of this written already so it wasn't that hard to finish this chapter.  
Next chapter will take longer though since I've only written about half of it and my muse is still not back in working order.  
Anyways, this'll be a slightly longer chapter and top of that is also contains some smutty goodness, which hopefully makes up for it.

Warnings: light Rick/Morty smut

* * *

 **Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 9: A new learning experience**

It was dinnertime in the Smith household and everyone was quite focused on eating their spaghetti carbonara when Summer was the one, who suddenly decided to break the silence.

"So, Morty. How you're holding up with your boyfriend?"

This instantly got their parents' attention while Morty choked on his food.

"Summer!" He hissed angrily.

He hadn't actually told his parents about his relationship yet because he honestly had no idea how to approach the subject. Even though the entire school already knew about it after the whole talk with Jessica, this information hadn't reached his home…until now.  
However, thankfully – and also quite surprisingly – no one had actually bothered to tease Morty about being gay or whatever despite him worrying that people would make fun of Rick and (especially) of him for this.

At the dinner table, the news were met with confusion though.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Jerry was the first to comment on it. "I always thought you were a lady's man, Morty?"

"Jerry! It doesn't matter if our son likes girls or boys. Just be proud that he finally found someone!" Beth instantly scolded her husband.

The tall brunet was quick to defend himself, lifting his hands in a surrendering motion. "I don't have a problem with my son being gay. Just wondering…"

Was this discussion really necessary? Morty felt so embarrassed right now that he wanted to be anywhere than here. His appetite at least was completely gone, so maybe he could excuse himself from the table now?

He didn't get the chance though.

His mom had turned towards him now and obviously had to ask, "So, who is the lucky guy?"

Even if he had no food in his mouth right now, the teen had to swallow heavily.

"…um…it's Rick…" he admittedly quietly.

Beth was clearly surprised while his dad was outright shocked. "Now, I don't have a problem with you liking boys, but I have a problem with you liking **that** boy!"

"Shut up, Jerry!" The blond elbowed him in the side before she turned with a smile towards Morty again. "It's nice that your relationship had developed in that direction and Rick is a really good boy."

"Ouch!" The family father complained about the jab into his side. "How is that little punk and hooligan a good boy, Beth?! He's been nothing but a bad influence on our son and now he made him gay, too! That's not okay!"

"Can I leave the table? I'm full and I have to do some homework still." The smaller brunet took the chance to excuse himself before a full-fledged fight between his parents would break out again.

"Of course, Sweetie." His mother allowed him to leave before she turned back to his father again to make a counter argument.

Morty quickly got up, brought his plate in the kitchen before he scaled the stairs to his room, all the while trying to ignore the shouts of the two adults – though he couldn't help but overhear that his mother pointed out that Rick at least won't accidentally impregnate him, which made him cringe a little. As he closed the door to his room behind himself, he leaned with his back against it and took a deep breath.  
His heart was still racing from coming out of the closet and confessing to his parents.

"By the way, Morty. It had been pretty obvious even before you and Rick got together." Summer's voice, dulled by the wooden barrier, reached his ears.

Seems like his sister had also decided to flee the argument at the dinner table and went to her room.

A light blush was on Morty's face, but a small smile joined it soon. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted from him and he was so relieved that his family mostly accepted his new relationship.  
Well, obviously his dad didn't, but that was actually to be expected and the boy decided that his opinion wasn't really that important to him. Having his mom and sister stand behind him, meant a lot though.

However, his sister's comment made him think. 'Jeez, had it really been that obvious…?'

* * *

Things were as usual again. Rick kept dragging him out of school to have him assist with his science projects and aside from an occasional making out session here and there, nothing had changed from how things were before their relationship had started.

Unfortunately, this also meant for Morty that his grades were still as horrible as ever. Even when Rick had shut him out and he had attended his classes again, the brunet had been so helplessly lost on his subjects that he hadn't managed to catch up at all.  
Not only that, but also because he had been constantly worried and wondering what Rick was doing the entire time.

So, he was still stuck being grounded and when he came home with his failed math test and showed it to his mother, it was obvious that that status wouldn't change for a long time to come.

The blond frowned down at the test, probably wondering how anyone could get this many answers wrong. Then she sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Morty… I really had hoped now that you're attending your classes regularly again-" He tried to keep a straight face and not give himself away at the mention of his attendance record. "-and since you're still grounded that your grades would improve. But apparently that's not the solution here, so tell me what we need to do to make it better."

With guilt written all over his face, Morty could only shrug. What did she expect him to answer?  
Was there even something that anyone could do to help him…? Oh! Maybe there was!

"Um…maybe it would help if I would study with someone together?" He suggested.

Another sigh. "Last time your father helped with your homework, you complained that it was all wrong and you would have done better without his help…"

"Well, I wasn't talking about Dad!" Morty cut in. "It doesn't really help me when someone tries to explain something to me when they know even less about it."

The blond nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's true. But, Morty, I'm not sure if we can afford a private tutor for you…"

"Well, I was actually thinking…about asking Rick to tutor me…" As his mother only blinked at him, he quickly added, "I-I mean, he's a genius and a-a-at the top of all of his classes a-and we have almost all the same courses together, too, so there's no-no better choice than him and I'm sure if-if I a-ask him he'll say yes and do it for free, too!"

Morty was panting a little from rushing the explanation while Beth still looked at him with an unchanging face. It was honestly unnerving.

Then, she finally responded. "That's actually a very good idea, Morty!"

Maybe he just imagined it, but pride seemed to swing in her voice – or maybe it was just relieve that she wouldn't have to look for a cheap tutor.

"Yes? You think so?" He almost couldn't believe that she agreed. "So, does that mean that Rick can come over?"

He didn't entirely forget that his parents were reluctant of having him hang out with Rick outside of school – even though there had been a lot of exceptions like school prom and his double date, but his mother had such a hard time believing that her son even had a social life that she didn't have the heart to ruin it for him.

"Of course, he can, Morty. Just remember that it's for tutoring and not something else." While she sounded stern, there was a smile on her face.

Morty's face instantly heated up at the suggestion behind those words. "G-geez! O-of course, Mom!"

"Well, this better works out, Morty." Beth looked serious again. "If this doesn't do it, we might have to send you to a special school because I don't see another solution here…"

The brunet gulped, but nodded in understanding. He could only hope that his best friend slash boyfriend would cooperate, too.

* * *

With things established and a follow-up math test coming next Monday, Morty was also able to convince Rick to come over on the weekend to help him study for it. The spiky-haired teen actually accepted the invitation quickly and without any complaints, which surprised the brunet a little since he didn't expect the other to be excited about the prospect of "wasting" their time cramming together.

Pretty much like last time that Rick came over, Morty was waiting for him. Instead of pacing in the living room, he hung out in the hallway though, constantly checking the windows if he could spot the other as if he was afraid that he'd _somehow_ overhear the roaring sound of his motorcycle **and** the doorbell.

Summer only rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to comment on her brother's antics this time. Though, it was probably cute that he was acting like a loyal puppy that waited for its owner to come home.

The moment, that the loud sound of an engine nearing could be heard, Morty flung open the front door and in typical fashion, Rick parked his motor bike, dismounted it and took off his helmet.  
Running a hand through his spikes, he walked with a grin over to his waiting boyfriend.

"Hey, Morty! Missed me?" He asked cockily.

A blush rose to Morty's cheeks and he smiled shyly. "Hey, Rick. I-I'm sure you know the answer already."

He readily accepted the small kiss that Rick gave him in greeting.

"Well, apparently not enough to throw on some fancy clothes for me this time." The blue-haired teen commented as he eyed the brunet.

Somehow, the blush intensified. Sure enough, he just wore his typical yellow t-shirt and dark-blue denim pants.

"We do-don't have dinner like last time you were over." Morty tried to defend himself. "A-and you didn't bother wearing something nice either."

Truth be told, Rick just wore his standard attire of blue shirt and khakis.

"Touché!" The spiky-haired boy replied.

Finally, Morty remembered his manners and gestured for the other to come inside, who followed his invitation. He just wanted to lead him upstairs to his room when his mother showed up in the hallway.

"Hello, Rick."

The teen nodded in greeting. "Hi, Beth."

"I hope you remember to do some actual studying and not just make out the entire time." She commented.

Morty's cooling cheeks quickly heated up again. "Mom!"

"Don't worry about that, Beth." Rick replied and didn't protest when the brunet grabbed his wrist and pulled him upstairs to avoid further embarrassment.

As soon as he closed the door after them and noticed how the other teen was looking around, Morty realized that this was actually the first time that Rick was in his bedroom.

"Nice room you have, Morty." His friend commented as he eyed his shelf, which was stacked with comic books and collectable figurines.

"Th-thanks, Rick." He didn't know why, but for some reason, Morty felt nervous.

It wasn't even as if it's the first time that the two were alone together. They were alone together all the time at Rick's workshop.  
Somehow, this still felt different from that though.

He watched how Rick took the freedom to sit down on his bed, testing out a little how bouncy the mattress was. Then the other looked at him and patted the spot beside him.

"C'mon, Morty. No need to be so uptight." A sly grin appeared on his face. "If you come over here, I can help you relax."

His face seemed to be permanently stuck at looking like a cherry.

"N-no, Rick!" He protested. "I was serious when I said that I need your help. I really only asked you to come over to cram."

Rick only sighed and rolled his eyes. Apparently, he had had other plans when he agreed to come over to help with studying.

Morty continued. "My mom is really upset with my grades and if I don't improve then it won't be "Rick and Morty forever and 100 years" anymore. There won't be any "Rick **and** Morty" at all."

Another sigh. "Fine, let's just get to it then."

Rick stood up from the bed and walked over to the desk now, looking at what Morty had already picked out in preparation.

"Math, huh?" He already sounded bored out of his mind.

"Yeah, we have the test on Monday, remember?"

Rick sat down in the only available chair. "Of course, I remember that, Morty…"

Then he looked expectantly at the brunet and patted his lap.

"What are you waiting for? Hop on already so we can start."

"Wha-what?" It was official now that he wasn't going to stop blushing today anymore. "No, Rick. I said we need to cram."

"I know. That's why I want you to sit down so we can finally start." The other said matter-of-factly.

Morty wanted to protest and say that he would get a second chair, but found himself obediently sitting down in Rick's lap. It was a little weird to be so close to the other. To be able to feel his body heat through their clothes.

"…a-are you sure about this, Rick?" He asked quietly.

The other's long arms reached around him and settled on top of the desk, caging him in. "Don't worry, Morty. Just trust in my methods. I'll guarantee that you'll learn this in a wink."

Still feeling flutters in his stomach, Morty turned towards the desk and the sheet with arithmetical problems for practice. His heart raced when Rick leaned forward and he also looked at the paper over his shoulder, feeling the other at his back, neck and cheek.

"Okay, so what do you have trouble with?" The other asked him and Morty tried not to focus on the vibrations he felt coming from Rick's body when he spoke.

He swallowed nervously. "Um…all of it?"

"Fine, then let's do the first one together."

Morty was actually a little surprised that Rick did take it seriously now. With big eyes, he watched how Rick wrote down the solution process for him while explaining every step slowly. The way, he explained it was different from the way that Mr. Goldenfold had taught them and for some odd reason, it began to make much more sense to him now.

"Oh, I-I think, I got it now." The brunet slowly calmed down again, focusing on the exercise and noticing that he actually felt really comfortable sitting in the other's lap – feeling safe and protected.

"Good. Then try the next one on your own now."

Trying to follow exactly the solution path that the other provided to him, he slowly solved the next problem.

"Is-is this right?" He asked uncertainly.

Rick hummed and Morty shuddered as he felt his boyfriend's hot breath against his ear. "Got it right, Morty. Good job. You deserve a little reward for that."

The brunet squeaked softly as a cheeky tongue suddenly liked over his earlobe and teeth gently nibbled on it moments after. A small whimper escaped him as that hot mouth suckled on the lobe for another minute.

"For every problem you get right, you're gonna get a little reward." Rick murmured after he stopped his ministrations again, sounding definitely sexy. "And you get something _really nice_ when we're done. How does that sound, Morty?"

"S-sounds good." A little out of breath, Morty winced at the high pitch that his voice had right now.

Honestly, he couldn't deny that it was a great incentive.

"Okay, then solve the next one now." The other teen's voice was still a low rumble that was making Morty's knees weak – good thing that he was already seated.

Trying his best to focus on the next math problem, he solved it again. This time a little quicker than before.  
He smiled broadly when his conclusion was correct once more and keened when Rick rewarded him with small licks and kisses along the sensitive side of his neck.

One after the other, he went through the problems, although he did find it increasingly harder to focus properly on them. A certain growing pressure that he could feel in his lower body didn't exactly help his case.

And then he suddenly got an answer wrong, being stumped and feeling disappointed in himself. "Oh geez…"

"Don't swat it, Morty. Just try again and let's go over your solution path together."

The brunet went slowly over the process again, saying aloud all the steps that he went through in his head before.

Rick suddenly interrupted him. "Hold on! See, that's where you made the mistake."

Now that the other mentioned it, Morty noticed it, too, and corrected it. This time he reached the right solution.

"Good. See, you didn't even need my help at the end there." The other teen praised him.

His face was turned by a gentle hand and warm lips placed themselves on his own. Rick had given him a few kisses before, but this time an eager and wet muscle begged him for entrance, which Morty quickly granted.  
The brunet moaned into the kiss and as their tongues played with each other and he started to forget everything around him.

"C'mon, Morty. There's still a few problems to solve."

After they had separated again, Morty had stared at his friend in a daze and only after being reminded, slowly regained his thought process again.

"Don't worry, there not that many left. And as soon as you're done with them, you're going to get that big reward that I promised you."

Of course, this kept Morty motivated and even though he felt a little distracted by all of these ministrations, he was really looking forward to what Rick would give him.

In no time, he was done and completed the math exercise. Now that he looked over the paper, it actually hadn't been that hard…

"Good job, Morty." Again, the spiky-haired teen praised him. "Now for your price…"

Rick's hands that had been formerly resting on his hips, suddenly began to wander towards his crotch. Barely avoiding the more than obvious bulge, deft fingers instantly began to work his pants open.  
The sudden motions caused Morty to sharply suck in a breath of air.

"R-Rick? Wh-wha…?" Feeling overwhelmed by the turn of events, the brunet sat frozen in shock and could only stare down at what his boyfriend did to him.

The spiky-haired teen didn't stop, but tried to calm him down verbally. "Don't worry, Morty. Just relax. You're gonna like this."

Despite the words, Morty still tensed up as his erection was freed, his face feeling hot enough that you could fry eggs on it right now. With baited breath, he watched how long and slim fingers wrapped around his stiff flesh, a moan escaping him on contact and reflexively, he put a hand over his mouth to stifle the embarrassing sounds.

While he lost some of his sensitivity due to masturbating very regularly, being touched _there_ by someone else was a completely new and extremely arousing sensation. That it was the first time that it was happening to him, didn't really help either.

Clamping the hand tighter over his mouth, Morty found himself unable to tear his eyes away as Rick's hand began to move. Slowly but confidently, it kneaded along the shaft, wandering to the tip and then back down again, gripping a bit tighter and pulling down the foreskin to reveal the already glistening head.

Not knowing what to do with himself, Morty gripped his boyfriend's arm with his free hand – not to stop the movements. Only because he needed to hold onto something. He whimpered and moaned with each motion, feeling more than just overwhelmed by the current situation.

Honestly, what Rick was dishing out today was already more than what he was used to. They hadn't really went past kissing before and the other was the one, who said that he would take it slow with him.  
How this was considered _slow_ was beyond Morty.

Rick's other hand meanwhile had snuck under his t-shirt, briefly caressing over the soft skin of his stomach until it rested on his chest, holding him securely since Morty had started to squirm around a bit in his lap. He was sure that the other could clearly feel the rapid beat of his heart right now.  
Following the light pressure, he obediently leaned back against Rick, yet he still watched what that skillful hand was doing to him.

The grip had become a bit firmer now as those fingers moved rhythmically up and down. Stopping at the head, a lone fingertip glided over the slit a few times, slowly spreading the pre that had gathered there all over the sensitive glans.  
It made Morty's body tremble.

The precum slicked fingers focused back on his heated shaft again, the pace slowly picking up and with each descend, Rick twisted his wrist in a certain way that had the brunet moaning loudly into his sweaty palm.  
Inadvertently his hips began to rock into his boyfriend's hand, trying to match the rhythm.

Somehow, Rick was doing this exactly how he loved it the most and it astounded Morty. Sure, he knew that the blue-haired teen was no virgin and sexually far more experienced than he was. The talk around school about Rick's flings with the many, many girls was speaking for itself and no one made a secret out of him being a good lay.  
And while he had heard about Rick also having dated a few boys, Morty really had no idea that he was also this good with "taking care" of his male partners. Then again, he should have expected no less from the genius.

The pressure in Morty's lower body had built up so much that he didn't know how much longer he would be able to last. Rick's hand was still insistently pumping his erection and when the fingers of the other one gently stroked over his chest and lips found his earlobe again, he became undone.

Biting into his hand to avoid screaming aloud, he threw his head back, leaning it on Rick's shoulder. Only vaguely, he noticed that the other quickly moved to catch his cum with his hand – thankfully keeping him from staining the floor.  
While his mind was still pleasantly dazed from his relieve, soft kisses were peppered on his neck.

"Tha…that was…wow!" Morty commented after he came down from his high again.

A chuckle escaped the other and one last kiss was placed behind his ear. "You know, Morty, it's going to be even better when we do it for real."

The promise sent another shiver through his body and Morty wondered how that was even possible. However, he wasn't going to question Rick on that.  
Suddenly remembering that his pants were still undone, he quickly tugged himself back inside and closed them.

Still feeling a little embarrassed about the entire situation, Morty wasn't sure what Rick was expecting of him now. Did he want him to return the favor or something?  
What was the etiquette for after getting a handjob?  
His own inexperience with these matters made him feel only more self-conscious.

He cleared his throat. "Um…do you—?"

"Think this is enough studying or do you need some more practice?" Rick interrupted him.

This wasn't what he had expected.

"Oh…um…" Looking down at the solved sheet, he contemplated. "Maybe we could practice a little bit more, just to be sure? B-but I-I'm fine with doing it without any rewards."

Not that he didn't like it, but Morty wasn't entirely sure if he could handle more of that for now. His poor heart was still racing like crazy.  
His suggestion wasn't met with protest and they continued to cram innocently, yet he still get to sit in Rick's lap the entire time.

Come Monday, Morty passed the math test with flying colors.


End file.
